


Pretzels

by StarryClouds



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Apologies if some of the characters are OOC, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, I don't even know anything about the DC universe, I just really like Jason Todd, Romance, Some sort of obsession with pretzels?, flirting?, teasing?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-11 11:09:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11713170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryClouds/pseuds/StarryClouds
Summary: For a while you couldn't say anything, before you blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "You made me drop my pretzel."The man's features were hidden under the helmet but you could tell that he was surprised by the answer. You mentally kicked yourself for saying something so stupid and awkward."I-I mean. Thank you. That was what I was meant to say," you chuckled nervously and looked at the pretzel lying in the middle of the street from when you had dropped it when Red Hood had grabbed you.But surprisingly, you heard a snort coming from the vigilante. "Well, you're weird. But you're welcome."It was stupid of you to think that you could attempt a peaceful life in Gotham.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how to write most of the characters here, I'm sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES:
> 
> 1\. Updates probably won't be regular (sorry sorry!). I suck at keeping schedule and all that shiz and usually I make sure updates are regular by writing several chapters in advance and then publishing them one at a time in case there's a reason why I can't write a new chapter.
> 
> 2\. This is in the Young Justice universe (since that's the only DC universe actually know lmao) but it's going to be quite heavily AU.
> 
> 3\. I'm not going to say anything else otherwise I'll end up spoiling everything. But just keep in mind that it's mainly AU in the YJ universe.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Gotham city was loud. Very loud. Back in your hometown you actually had a little bit of peace and quiet at night but it seemed that here, tranquillity didn't exist. Even at night in your little apartment, you had to try and sleep through the sounds of cars (and occasionally sounds of fistfights and gunshots) and people. It had been only one week since you moved to Gotham, and you already had enough.

But you forced yourself to try and get used to it since you would be here for a few years. Gotham university was prestigious and thought to be as good as an Ivy league school, and you didn't spend countless sleepless nights studying just to be nerved by the chaos of the city.

There were only two more days until your first day at your university and honestly, you weren't sure whether to be scared or excited. All your things were sorted and unpacked, you called your parents yesterday to talk about how well you were settling in and you were pretty much ready for your university studies. But you were also unprepared on how university life would be like. Since Gotham university was a prestigious school, you would be surrounded by geniuses and people who have been top of their academic game since kindergarten. It took you years and many sacrifices of your social life to get to where you were now through sheer hard work but that didn't mean that you would be able to keep up with the lectures and the speed of the work. Hell, you would probably have to spend your free time studying just to catch up.

There was also the problem with post university life. You knew of many people who graduated from Ivy league universities yet still found it hard to get a good job due to the lack of jobs in the market. It was one of your fears that kept you up last night. You were scared that even if you graduated, you wouldn't be able to find a job and would have to work as a shopkeeper in some unknown part of America (A science graduate with massive student loans working as a shopkeeper. Welcome to the 21st century!).  
But that was mainly why you made sure to get into Gotham university. People who stood out particularly well and achieved honours would be given an apprenticeship in Wayne enterprises, a multi billionaire company owned by Bruce Wayne. It almost always guaranteed a permanent (and well paying job) and you were determined to be one of those people. So what if you weren't a natural genius? That wasn't going to stop you from proving your worth.

You took one last look in the mirror to check your make up and put on your coat. The past few days were spent unpacking and you only briefly explored the city a little. Today you were planning on walking around Gotham the whole day and see the place that would be your "home" for hopefully the next few years. The apartment you were staying in was pretty cheap compared to the other available living spaces but that was mainly because the area you were staying in wasn't exactly the safest. But you didn't want to increase your debt even more and took the risk. Besides, you could just buy plenty of security equipment and make sure to be home at least before 8:00pm.

The day was warm but breezy, the perfect weather to be outside and you eyed the many restaurants and shops that you passed, mentally noting down to try and find a part time job somewhere.

You inhaled the smell of food wafting in the air and surrendered to your growling stomach, stopping to buy a pretzel at a bakery. Food was after all, your ultimate weakness. Strolling down the street, you munched on the delicious savoury pretzel and watched the Gothamites carrying on with their business. The different conversations and chatter became a soothing background noise as you walked and you couldn't help but admire the peace of the city today.

That was before the windows of the bank in front of you exploded and multiple masked men bounded out carrying huge bags of money.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" shouted one thug, waving a gun threateningly. The people around you screamed and scattered in different directions but you were frozen in fear and shock, only managing to move a few shaking steps to the wall of an alleyway so that you wouldn't get trampled. The gang of men were all holding guns now and glaring at the civilians behind their masks and balaclavas.

You took deep breaths to try and calm your heart down and slid down the wall to hide in the shadows of the alley. You heard about how common these types of incidents were, but you had hoped not to be even close to one during your time here. Obviously the universe hated you and now you were in the middle of a bank robbery, a few feet away from a group of criminals with guns and bags of money. When your hands finally stopped shaking, you lifted yourself from the ground and grabbed tightly onto your bag and pretzel. Your main priority right now was to just escape and run. Run from the scene and get to safety.

Easier said than done. It was only a few steps out of the alleyway before you heard a yell from behind you and without hesitation, you broke out into a sprint. But before you could get away, you were yanked back by your hair by something strong. You let out a cry of pain as you tumbled back and saw the masked face of one of the criminals.

"Well, well well. Looks like we have a little runaway."  
You couldn't see his face but his eyes were wide with malice and behind that mask, you knew he was snarling savagely.

He pulled you up by the back of your collar and pushed your back with his gun. "Hands in the air and walk. Don't try any funny business."

You obeyed him and walked with shaky steps. There was a sob stuck in your throat but you forced yourself to swallow it. Now was not the time for breakdowns like this. You chided yourself to stay calm.  
In the front of the bank, there were hostages on their knees with their hands in the air. Many wore uniforms with the bank's logo on it (you guessed that they worked in the bank) and some were civilians who were unlucky enough to get caught in the robbery. They looked at you with eyes of pity and terror, and you gave a shaky smile to try and reassure them (or yourself but honestly, you didn't care).

In front of you, there was a small toddler sitting on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. "Mummy! I want my mummy!"

"SHUT UP," growled one thug. "Someone shut this kid or I'll do it myself." He pointed to his gun to make his point across. You gulped as you saw that he was serious, yet no one tried to quieten down the little child, too afraid to move. The toddler's wails kept growing louder until the man growled and took a step towards her but without thinking, you shuffled towards the little girl and put one arm around her to calm her down, the other arm still up in the air.

"Shh," you whispered. "It's ok. Here, have my pretzel. It's really nice."

You slowly broke a piece off and gave it to the child, who quietened down and held the little piece with chubby hands.

"Your mummy will come soon," you told her, resting her on your crossed legs so that you could put both your hands on your head again. "Just eat your pretzel quietly until then, ok?"

"Finally," said the man from before and it took all your will power not to jump up right there and do something stupid, settling with a deep glare.

"Oi, are you done?" called out another man into the bank. You tilted your head to see three other people filling more bags with cash.

 _'Idiots.'_ you thought. _'You had plenty of money before. Now you want more? Greedy pigs'_

But you secretly hoped that they would carry on being this slow so that the police or help would come to arrest them and save you and the hostages.

"We're nearly done!" yelled one of the men from inside.

"Well hurry up!" said one thug. "Before they arrive!"

Who did they mean by "they"? You were in a brief state of confusion before you suddenly remembered about something you read. _Gotham city was well known not only for its large rates of crime, but for the vigilantes and superheroes who guarded the city and other areas._

"Too late," A deep voice resonated through the air before the four men in front of you were suddenly knocked out by a fast force.

_There were notable superheroes, such as Wonder Woman, The Flash, Superman. But the main protector of Gotham was..._

"BATMAN!" cried out one civilian. "He's here!"

"And so are the others!"

You gaped in awe as a tall figure wearing a black cloak and cowl landed in front of you, cuffing the knocked out men. From the corner of your eye, you saw a red and black movement and moved your head to see a younger man easily knocking out another thug. _Robin_ , you recognised. A taller man stood next to him, finishing off another criminal. He was dressed in a blue and black suit and you realised that he was Nightwing.

By now the hostages were able to move away from the scene and you carefully stood up, shielding the little girl from the fight. But before you could move, you heard the distinct clicking of a gun and something cold and metal digging into the back of your head.

"FREEZE. OR I'LL SHOOT THE GIRL."

You froze, your arms still carrying the small toddler, and you looked at the reflection of one of the bank's unbroken windows to see one of the thugs holding a loaded gun at you.

One week. You had been in this city for just one week (not even starting university yet) and you were already going to die.

The three superheroes narrowed their eyes at the criminal but didn't move, knowing better than to risk it. You kept a stony face. Had it been just you, it would have been fine but you were also endangering the life of the little girl in your arms, and you had to keep her safe.

"Now," carried on the masked man. "You'll let me go with my money and not move until I'm out of sight. Or I'll kill the girl AND the annoying kid- OOF."

His sentence was abruptly stopped by something slamming into him and you felt the metal gun leave your head. Then you felt arms wrapping around your waist and twisting you into a muscular body, protecting you from any other harm.

"Red Hood!" cried Nightwing. "It's about time you arrived."

The chest in which your head was squished into rumbled as your saviour laughed. "Well, isn't it good that I came in at the right time? Looks like I saved your asses again."

You heard Nightwing say something in return before the warm body holding you released you and stepped back. You stepped back a bit as well, still staring at the ground.

The man in front of you spoke. "Are you-"

"DELILAH!" A woman's cry grabbed both of your attention as you saw a woman running towards you.

"MUMMY!" cried the little toddler in you arms, squirming to get to her mother. You gently put her down and watched her run to her mother. The woman had tears running down her face as she hugged her daughter tightly.

"I'm never letting you out of my sight ever again," she told the girl before she looked at you and pulled you into a hug as well.

"Thank you," she whispered with a shaky voice. "I saw everything. Thank you so much for protecting Delilah. I can't ever repay you."

The words were stuck in your throat before you forced them out. "I-It's ok. We were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

The woman wiped more tears from her eyes, nodding before giving you another hug and a peck on the cheek. "Come on now Delilah. Let's go home now."

You watched the two walk away and almost forgot about the other vigilante if it wasn't for him speaking again.

"So... are you ok?"

You whipped your head up to see a tall man standing beside you. He wore a black leather suit with a red bat emblazoned on the chest, similar to Batman, Robin and Nightwing. There were gun holsters strapped to his thighs and a katana strapped to his back. He also wore a light brown leather jacket and a red helmet with two slits for eyes.

For a while you couldn't say anything, before you blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "You made me drop my pretzel."

The man's features were hidden under the helmet but you could tell that he was surprised by the answer. You mentally kicked yourself for saying something so stupid and awkward.

"I-I mean. Thank you. That was what I was meant to say," you chuckled nervously and looked at the pretzel lying in the middle of the street from when you had dropped it when Red Hood had grabbed you.

But surprisingly, you heard a laugh coming from the vigilante. "Well, you're weird. But you're welcome."

You were about to complain about the "you're weird" comment before Batman appeared before you.

"Red Hood." He said. "The police are on their way and will be arriving in a few minutes."

Red Hood nodded in understanding. Batman leapt away onto the roof and you watched as Nighwing and Robin joined their boss and followed him, Red Hood catching up with them. But before he got too far, he turned back and gave you a wave.

"See ya Pretzel girl."

You stared and slowly waved back, watching the superheroes run away before you couldn't see them any more. It wasn't until you finally arrived home in the middle of the day and locked yourself into the privacy of your apartment did you finally let the tears and sobs that you held back the entire time finally stream down your face.

That night you dreamt of faceless men with guns and a saviour with a red helmet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? Comment down below and let me know any feedback!


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your second meeting with Red Hood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is this so short.

Two weeks passed after the incident and you were settling into college life. Initially it was hard to get used to it, with lectures nearly everyday and chores to do in your apartment but you finally managed to get used to it. You even made a few friends in the campus, many who did different courses from you. The friend you were probably closest to though was Rora, a girl who didn't even go to Gotham university; she was an artist who had graduated from art school a year ago and made a career creating paintings and sculptures. The two of you had met in a cafe where she worked and eventually helped you get a part time job there as a waitress.

You sighed in relief as you finally finished hoovering the carpet of your small living room. Today was one of your free days where you didn't work at the cafe and your lectures finished early so you had the whole of the afternoon and evening to yourself. Usually you spent it by having a long nap or going to the library to do any coursework but today you decided to hoover your apartment, only to finish it in only a couple of hours.

So you decided that today you'd go to the library again, but instead of studying you could read a book and relax in the comfy chairs of the library. You threw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie over your top, not even bothering with wearing make up or attempting to look nice. Besides, it wasn't like you were trying to impress anyone these days. You grabbed your bag, which now had a can of pepper stray and a rape alarm to offer you some comfort, and left your apartment.

***

"Ma'am, we'll be closing in about fifteen minutes."

You looked at the time on your watch, only to see that nearly three hours had already passed since you had found a book and started reading.

"Sorry," you apologised. "I'll leave now."

You never meant to stay this long, but you had found a really interesting book that immediately drew you in. What was meant to be only an hour at the library turned into three and the sky outside had turned dark. You quickly finished reading the remaining few pages of the book and put it back onto the shelf. Gathering your things, you exited the library and cursed.

The streets were lit by street lights and there weren't many people walking around. After all, it was late evening so many would be in their homes. Briefly you thought of calling Rora to drop you off but you quickly dismissed the idea. She was working on a project that could be the breakthrough to getting her an expedition and you didn't want to disturb her. So you eventually decided to walk home alone.

You weren't stupid. You knew that at this time the alleyways would be filled with drunks and shady people so whenever you approached a shadowy bit you immediately crossed the road to walk under the street lights. There were only a few more blocks until you reached your apartment complex but you kept a tight grip on your bag and the pepper spray in it. You were now in the area where most petty muggings and attacks happened and you quickened your pace.

Then you heard it. Something which sounded a lot like footsteps dropping onto the pavement quite a bit behind you. You quickly turned around, only to see nothing. Turning around, your walking turned into a power walk as you tried to get home. Another sound reached your ears but this time you didn't even bother to look back, instead breaking into a run.

Your footsteps were loud against the silence in the street and in the back of your mind you knew that it would get some more unwanted attention, but you didn't care. It wasn't until you were a couple of blocks away that you stopped to try and catch your breath. You couldn't see anyone behind you but that didn't mean that there was no one there.

"Boo."

You let out a loud shriek and punched in the direction where the voice came from. Your hand met something hard and tough and you realised that it was a chest. A hard, toned chest...

"Hey there Pretzel girl."

Red Hood gave you a mocking salute and leaned against the wall. You retracted your arm in embarrassment and glared at him for scaring you.

"What the hell??" you growled. "Don't do that fucker."

"Such vulgar language." He put a hand to his heart as if wounded by your comment and chuckled when he saw you rolling your eyes. "Fine, sorry for scaring you. But you looked so jumpy walking down the street. I couldn't help myself."

"Yeah right," you mumbled. "What do you want anyway?"

"I made you drop your pretzel the other day. Don't you want another one?"

You blinked. He had actually taken your comment seriously.

"I'm pretty sure all the bakeries are closed now."

He stayed silent for a little while before digging his hands into the pocket of his leather jacket. "Ok fine, I wasn't here to buy you a pretzel. But I saw you walking alone. That's pretty dangerous considering what the time is now."

"I'm only a few minutes from my apartment."

"Anything could happen in those few minutes."

"I have pepper spray. And a rape alarm."

"Right. As if that's gonna help you with a group of experienced thugs."

You felt your cheeks grow hot when he made a comment about what happened two weeks ago. "I was unprepared that time and new to the city. But I'm capable now. "

He eyed your body in a judging manner. But he wasn't doing it in a lewd way but more in a way that sarcastically implied: "yeah, you definitely look like you could beat up a criminal". Nevertheless it made you uncomfortable and you crossed your arms and shrank into your hoodie.

"Sorry," he said when he saw you do that and you mumbled an "It's ok".

"Since you're so worried about my safety," you drawled. "You can walk me home."

You couldn't see his face but his body language showed that he was surprised, before it relaxed. "Sure."

"But only to the doors of the apartment complex. I usually only invite boys into my apartment on the fifth date."

His snort sounded weird underneath the helmet but you found yourself liking the sound.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red Hood can't seem to let go of your liking for pretzels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to remind you that I'm not really familiar with the canon biographies with some of the characters, mostly because there are so many versions (I saw a scene from a comic about Dick Grayson falling over and DYING??? Like it's sad but that's really the most stupid superhero death ever and Nightwing is one of the greatest superheroes in the DCU. Now Kid Flash's death from Young Justice, that's a heartbreaking tearjerker).
> 
> Like I just found out a couple of weeks ago that BARBARA GORDON (my favourite superhero can I just sayyyy) had an AFFAIR with BRUCE FUCKING WAYNE in some official comics. WHAT THE FUCK??????? I'm just going to pretend that it was just some weird plot thought of by some weird fan in some weird fanfiction.
> 
> So whoopdidoo hope you guys aren't too salty with my own version of the BatFam and Gotham. ;)

The third time you met Red Hood was when you arrived back home to your apartment after a day at the university to see the familiar leather clad vigilante waving at you through the window from the fire escape.

You had just finished a lecture and spent the rest of the day in the university library researching more about a topic that had interested you. You were pleased to say that you were doing great; your professor was impressed when you stayed behind to talk about some independent research you had done and by the end of the discussion you were sure that you were in his good books. The thought had made you smirk in victory as you entered your living room, before it was wiped off of your face when you saw the red helmet pressed against the window, causing you to yet again let out a scream of shock and accidentally drop all of your folders.

"God fucking dammit." you growled, quickly gathering the papers and putting it on the coffee table before stomping to the window to yell at the superhero.

But as soon as you opened the window, Red Hood bounded through and jumped onto your couch before you could let out a single word of your rant.

"Hello there. Sorry for scaring you. Nice day? I brought pretzels."

You were yet again dumbfounded when he showed you a bag of pretzels.

"This seems to be a running gag in our meetings," you eventually said as you sat down beside him and munched on a pretzel. He had brought a cinnamon pretzel for you and the delicious taste melted in your mouth as you moaned.

"This is great!" You cried. "Where did you buy this?"

"I didn't buy it," he said. "I know a guy who's great at baking and made pretzels for me. It means I didn't have to spend my hard earned money."

You snorted. "I'm pretty sure being a vigilante is a free thing."

"Unfortunately. But even superheroes need a job for their civilian lives."

You never thought of that you realised, when you heard him say that.

"Hard to imagine _you_ as a normal person," you mumbled, eyeing the katana on his back.

Red Hood just sniggered and leaned against the arm of the sofa, before you saw him staring at the folders and papers on the coffee table.

"That's my college stuff," you said as he leaned forward to look at them.

"I thought so... wait. _You go to Gotham university_?"

"Uhh yeah. Why?" You didn't miss the incredulous tone in his voice as he stared at the university logo on the front of your binder.

"Nothing. Just that it's pretty hard to get into."

"Are you implying that I'm not capable?" Your eyes narrowed at him.

"No, no, nope! I'm sure you're a very clever person!" He chuckled nervously.

"Mhmm. I forgive you... but only because this pretzel is really good," you said as you stuffed the last piece into your mouth.

Just then a beep came from Red Hood's watch and he glanced at it for a few seconds and sighed.

"That's Batman," he said standing up. "There's an attack from Penguin's men at the docks. I should go."

You nodded in understanding and followed him to the fire escape.

"Well, see you," you waved awkwardly when he climbed onto the railings and looked back at you.

"Is that a hidden message that you want to meet again?" You swore you could hear the smirk in his filtered voice.

You just childishly stuck your tongue out and watched him shoot a grappling hook out of one of his guns, turning to give you one last salute before swinging off onto the buildings on the other side of the street.

It wasn't until you were tucked into bed reading a book that you realised that you never denied his last comment.

***

Red Hood came to visit you often after that meeting. Sometimes it would be once or twice a week but sometimes the gap of the meetings would be almost two weeks apart. You weren't bothered by though, you knew how frantic the life of a protector must be.

It was on the sixth meeting in your apartment when you witnessed Red Hood take off his helmet. At first you were shocked that he would trust you with his secret identity but that thought was gone when you saw the second mask he had on.

"You have _another mask_? Under your helmet?" You gaped incredulously as you stared at the domino mask on his face.

"Duh."

"... _Why?_ "

"The aesthetic? Why else?" He grinned widely at your deadpanned look. "Extra privacy measures. And besides, it gets pretty hot in this helmet."

You weren't complaining though, finally able to see his head. Red Hood had defined facial features which nearly made you swoon and a mass of damp, messy black hair on his head. The domino mask prevented you from seeing the colour of his eyes but you guessed that they were pretty eyes. His face also had a few faint outlines of scars which gave him a rugged, tough look and there was a thin layer of sweat near his hairline from running around the city.

Luckily you managed not to stare at him for too long and offered him a towel to dry himself off with. He thanked you with a smile (you had to turn yourself around so that he wouldn't see your flustered face slowly burning up) and gave you a pretzel.

"Another one?" You raised an eyebrow when he grinned. "You do realise that I'm not even obsessed with pretzels?"

"I know but I find it to be a special symbol of our friendship."

"As sweet as that is, you shouldn't bring them with you all the time. It's unhealthy."

"Why? Your body looks great already."

You focused on stuffing your face with the pretzel so that he wouldn't see the smile threatening to explode on your face.

***

You walked down the university corridors, your bag heavy with all the books and papers in it. You had just finished a lecture for the day and had your job at the cafe to go to. The corridors weren't too crowded but you had to dodge some people so that you wouldn't get pushed. But it seemed as if fate wasn't on your side.

"Ow," you groaned when your body slammed into someone else's and quickly stepped back to keep your balance.

"Sorry," You said. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

You looked up to see a young man looking at you, green eyes wide in surprise. There was a bag slung over one shoulder, and by the look of his expensive clothes, you guessed that he was part of the "elite" class of students who came from the rich Gotham families.

"Are you ok?" You slowly asked when all he did was keep staring at you.

He seemed to snap out of it when you said that and blinked. You watched as the boy made a few sounds, before quickly walking away.

"Rude... could've at least said sorry back," you mumbled as you watched him walk away. But you kept your eyes fixed on his back.

His black hair made you immediately think of Red Hood, but the thought immediately went away when you imagined the vigilante with neat hair and expensive clothes.

"Never," you laughed. The boy you bumped into didn't even smile or show much emotion, other than a few scowls. Definitely not Red Hood, who had an attitude and a cocky personality.

"I should stop over-thinking every time I see a dark haired boy," You mumbled, walking out of the university in the direction of the cafe.

"Shelly's" was a quaint comfy cafe with delicious coffee and food. You had met Rora here and soon made friends with her, who helped you get a job as a waitress there with her. When you walked in, the sweet smell of cakes and pastries filled your nostrils and you greeted the barista before going to the back to put on your apron and name tag.

"FINALLY!" squealed a voice and you turned around just in time for Rora to hug you tightly.

"Hello to you too," you chuckled. "What are you so excited about?"

She pulled you over to the side and grinned at you with sparkling eyes. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I'm having my art displayed in an expedition next week!"

You gasped in happiness. "I'm so happy for you!"

You really were. It was Rora's dream to have her own expedition, something she was working towards with passion.

"Not only that. The expedition is going to be held at Liberty Hall!"

Now you were gaping. Liberty Hall was where the most famous of artists and photographers held their expeditions, and it was INCREDIBLY hard to have work displayed there. The expeditions were also private, so only exclusive people were allowed to go.

"Wait, so your work is going to be seen by rich people?"

"Yes! And get this, the WAYNE family are going to be there! One of their representatives was the one who gave me the offer!"

"The Wayne family? Rora, oh my god! That's incredible!" You struggled not to squeal.

"I KNOW RIGHT!" she grinned widely. "And I want you to be there at the expedition."

You gasped. "R-Really?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yep. We only met a month and a half ago but I already consider you my best friend. You were the only one supportive of my career when others said that I would get nowhere in life if I carried on pursuing it. And now I'm going to have my paintings and sculptures shown at one of the most exclusive places in Gotham! I want you to be there!"

You could feel tears in your eyes as you hugged her tightly. "Yes, yes, I will! Don't worry Rora, I'll be there!"

"Thank you! Now come on before Shelly comes and screams at us for not working."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER GUYSSSSS.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You unknowingly meet Red Hood's civilian form at Rora's art display and meet the Wayne family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty proud of this chapter. 
> 
> Also I wrote a little part from Jason's view but I only wanted to do it so that we could have a little peek at his side of the story but I don't think I'll switch to his point of view a lot, maybe a couple of times in the whole story.

You chewed your lip in thought as you looked at the dresses in your hand. You had never been to any fancy parties or events this important before so you didn't have any appropriate clothes in your wardrobe. Which led to your current predicament as you stood in a shop in the mall, trying to choose the perfect dress.

Finally you sighed in defeat and put all the dresses back onto the racks. No matter how hard you looked, you couldn't find any pretty dresses that were in your budget. You walked out of the seventh store that you had visited ever since you arrived at the mall and strolled around, trying to find any shops that caught your eye.

There would be very important people at the expedition, Rora had told you. There would be someone named Oliver Queen who was also another billionaire and was quite close with Bruce Wayne. There would also be journalists and photographers, so you needed to dress to impress. You had already bought new makeup, since the rest back in your apartment had nearly run out, but all you needed now was a dress.

In the end you just walked into the first store that you saw and started searching for clothes. There were many nice ones, but you knew that they wouldn't look very good on you. Just then, something caught your eye. You took the dress from the rack and marvelled at how soft the fabric felt in your hands. You picked your size from the rack and went into the fitting rooms, excited to try it on. When you finally put it on, you looked in the mirror and gaped.

It was a black dress that reached just a couple of inches above your knees and sleeves that reached your elbows. There was also a narrow neckline low enough to just show some skin but not be too revealing. Usually you felt self conscious wearing a dress as short as this but you felt confidence as you gazed at yourself in the mirror. It fit you like a glove and the fabric was soft and comfortable.

"This is it," you breathed before carefully removing it and putting on your original clothes. Finally, you had found your dress.

***

You smiled when you heard the speakers playing piano ballads of classic Disney songs. Of course Rora would pick something like that. But it was strangely fitting with the paintings and sculptures that were displayed. You looked in awe at the beauty of the paintings. Some of Rora's older paintings were also displayed but the main ones were her glow in the dark paintings.

In the light, the paintings were beautiful, showing one picture. But when the light was switched off, the hidden pictures painted with glow in the dark paint revealed themselves, which was truly magical. Each of the paintings had a light shining on them so viewers could see it in the dark and in the light.

**(A/N: There is one artist in real life who does this. His name is Cristoforo Scorpiniti and his instagram is @criscoart. I recommend checking his paintings out. They are absolutely beautiful. Rora's paintings are based on this idea but a bit more complex, not just silhouettes.)**

"You're here!"

Rora bounded up to you and you gave her a quick hug.

"You look so beautiful!" she praised you. You gave an awkward laugh. You had spent ages doing your makeup, keeping it simple and natural. You also wore a simple gold necklace and gold dangling earrings and put your hair into a low updo. You also wore simple wedges which you had bought on a whim a couple of weeks ago and had no use for until now.

"Thank you Rora! And I could say the same thing for you!" It was true. She looked beautiful in a burgundy dress and her long black hair was straightened. You found yourself envying her beautiful Indian features.

Rora thanked you and took a deep breath. "Are you sure everyone likes my paintings? I dunno, I think I'm regretting having so many important people come here."

She quickly took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter with a tray of drinks and you watched silently as she quickly downed it.

"Woahh ok Aurora Chopra, I think we'll leave the drinks until you've talked with people. Everyone loves your art. I heard Oliver Queen praising some of your paintings. Maybe he'll buy some." You took the half empty glass from her and calmed her down.

Rora gave you a smile and took another deep breath. "Maybe he will, that would be amazing! Anyway, I just saw the Wayne family coming a few minutes ago. Would you like to go and talk to them about your science-y stuff?"

You shook your head. "No, tonight's all about you. It's your dream come true anyway."

"Well keep enjoying yourself then. I need to go greet the other guests. Have fun!" And with that, Rora bounded away. You rolled your eyes at her jumpiness and sipped at the glass of champagne in your hand (you weren't old enough to drink yet but who cared?).

"This is a very nice piece of art," said a voice from beside you. You turned your head to see a beautiful woman looking at the painting you were looking at. It was a painting of Wonder Woman brandishing her whip and looking ahead with a fierce expression. Rora had made other paintings of superheroes but this one was one of your favourites.

"It is," you agreed with her. "Here, it looks better in the dark."  
You reached up and flicked off the light shining down the painting. The painting now showed the same Wonder Woman but her bracelets, crown and parts of her armour now glowed golden with a fiery glowing amber whip twirling around her. The background, which used to be simple sunrise background was now a dark galaxy-like sky filled with tiny glowing white stars. It was perfect; In the light it showed Wonder woman in daylight but in the dark it showed the heroine at night.

"Beautiful," breathed the woman next to you. You studied her from the corner of your eye. She had a European accent (Greek?), had fair skin with wavy glossy black hair and glasses over her warm eyes. She was dressed in a long blue evening gown and was sipping a glass of wine.

"It's one of my favourites," you whispered back. The woman turned to you.

"Why is that?" she asked curiously.

"Probably because Wonder Woman is my favourite superhero," You said.

"Really?" she sounded surprised and you looked at her.

"Yep. I heard that she was one of the reasons why the Allies won the First World War." You said. "It's inspiring isn't it? A powerful woman saving the world, especially at a time where women were seen as weak. Such an amazing role model!"

The woman smiled. "That is a very lovely answer," she said with her pretty accent. "I am Diana Prince, head of Themysciras industries."

Your eyes widened, surprised to meet one of the most successful women in the world. You stuttered over telling her your name and quickly accepted her handshake. "I'm... well, I'm Aurora Chopra's best friend."

"You're close with the artist then? Maybe you can help me buy this painting."

"You're gonna buy it?" Rora would be ecstatic!

"It's very beautiful and I think it would be beautiful in my living room. I just have to make sure no one else wants it too."

"Don't worry Miss, I'll make sure it's saved just for you."

Diana smiled at you before she looked at something over your shoulder. "Ah! The Wayne family, lovely to see you."

You twirled around to see a large family approach you and Diana, instantly recognising multi billionaire Bruce Wayne.

"Hello there Diana," greeted Bruce. You felt out of place as you saw two of the most successful people and lots of rich kids have a conversation and you slowly backed away as not to interrupt them.

"Have you met the artist's best friend?" Diana said to Bruce. You froze as the two turned to face you and you gave an awkward smile.

Diana introduced you to the billionaire.  
"She helped me decide to buy this painting," she said gesturing to the Wonder Woman painting. She and Bruce shared a smile as if they had an inside joke. You left them to their conversation and started walking away before you heard a girl's voice call out to you.

"Ohh _you're_ that girl!" You turned to see a blonde girl approach you excitedly with an Asian girl following behind her.

"Uh, what?"

"I can see why he hangs out with you! You're so pretty!" she squealed and you were even more confused.

"What?"

"What are you on about Steph?" Asked one of the boys, approaching you and the blonde girl. He had the same black hair and blue eyes as the rest of the boys but was the second smallest of them.

"It's her Tim! The one with Jason!"

Tim looked at you before his eyes widened. "Ohhhhh!"

"W-What?" You were still confused. Who on Earth was Jason?

"Jason spoke a lot about you. Well... more like we forced him to," carried on Tim and you felt that you needed to finally understand everything.

"Wait, hold on. Who's Jason?"

The smiles froze on Stephanie and Tim's faces and you watched in half amusement and half concern as their expressions morphed into one of horror, as if a gigantic fact was dawning on them.

"Oh shit," muttered Tim quietly, but you still heard it.

"What?"

The two spluttered before laughing sheepishly. Stephanie female friend meanwhile, was just watching in amusement without attempting to save them from their embarrassment.

"Did we mean Jason? We meant James! Your boss!" said Stephanie.

"But my boss' name is Shelly-"

"Then we probably got the wrong person!" Tim let out a nervous laugh. "Come on Stephanie, I can't believe you would embarrass yourself like that!"

Stephanie visibly shot a striking glare at her friend, but she gritted her teeth and smiled innocently at you. "I'm so sorry! I do this all the time! Hope I didn't make you too uncomfortable."

"I-It's... ok..."

"Tim! Stephanie! What the hell are you idiots doing?" said a voice. You turned around to see a familiar looking boy walking up to the three of you, a smaller much younger boy following him. You looked at the one who spoke a bit longer, wondering why he looked so familiar. That was until you realised that he was the boy you had bumped into a while ago (how you remembered that was a mystery to you).

"Hey there Jay," said Stephanie in a high voice, dragging out the "Jay".

Jason looked at her closely. "What did you do?" He asked slowly.

"Nothing!" cried Tim. "Just having a civilised conversation with this charming girl here,"

Jason turned, took one look at you, and froze. 

You gave a little wave. "Hi."

He opened his mouth, close it, and opened it again. You saw his eyes slowly travel down your form and you felt a bit of deja vu when you remembered a certain vigilante doing the same thing on your second meeting.

"Uh hey," he finally spluttered out.

"Hi," the tension between you two was awkward, and you hardly knew the boy.

"Well, this is... fun," drawled Stephanie. "I'm Stephanie, that's Tim and this is Cass," he gestured to the Asian girl who mutely smiled and waved. "And this is Jason Todd and the little dem- guy is Damian. Dick is also here but he's probably joining boring adult conversations."

"Or making out with Barbara," whispered Tim before Cass lightly smacked him on the arm.

You introduced yourself and tried to start a conversation, trying to ignore the violent butterflies in your stomach. "How are you enjoying the expedition?"

"The paintings are so beautiful!" exclaimed Stephanie. "I saw a Batman painting nearby and I'm thinking of getting Bruce to buy it!"

The others sniggered at the comment as you blinked in confusion. It seemed like the elite families of Gotham had a thing for inside jokes.

"How about you?" asked Tim, gesturing to you.

"It's great! It's really nice meeting all these people."

"You're close to Aurora Chopra, aren't you?"

"Yeah, we're quite close."

"How are you kids?" said a voice and you had to try not to squirm when you saw Bruce Wayne coming towards you. Diana had moved on and was having a conversation with a couple (you recognised them as Oliver and Dinah Queen).

"It's great, Bruce!" said Tim. Bruce nodded in acknowledgement before turning to you.

"Diana introduced us, I believe. I am Bruce Wayne."

"It's nice to meet you sir," you said, shaking his hand with unconcealed excitement.

"How are you doing with your studies? I heard from Miss Chopra that you're currently attending Gotham University."

You mentally jumped in victory when you saw the impressed looks on Bruce's and the rest of his family's faces.

"Gotham University? I heard that it's hard to get into," said Stephanie.

You laughed. "Yes sir, I'm studying Natural Sciences right now."

"That's quite an achievement. My ward Jason here is taking Literature."

You looked at Jason who was pretending to be focused on something else, but you could clearly see the blush on his cheeks.

"Yes, we bumped into each other on campus."

His cheeks grew hotter when he heard the literal meaning behind the sentence.

You smirked before you heard a few loud claps and turned around to see Rora.

Rora stood up on the platform and greeted the guests. "Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Aurora Chopra. I thank you all for coming to this expedition, which has been my lifelong dream. I hope you all like my paintings."

There were lots of cheers and applauding as the guests showed their love for Rora's work. You smiled widely, proud of your friend.

"I would like to give a massive thanks to Bruce Wayne for sponsoring this expedition. Without him this never could have happened. Let's raise a glass to him!"

You raised your just about empty glass of champagne to the billionaire with the rest of the guests. Bruce gave a light smile and nodded in appreciation.

Some other important officials stepped onto the platform to say a few words but you stopped listening when Rora came up to you and gave you a big grin.

"This evening is amazing," she squealed. "Best day ever!"

You chuckled at her huge grin. "I can see that. This evening is going so well!"

"I know right! I half expected some super villain to jump in and ruin everything," she joked. "Then again, this is Gotham. I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen."

"Well don't jinx it," you playfully whacked her on the arm. "I don't want to be a damsel in distress again."

Rora's eyes widened. "Oh yeah! You were one of those hostages during the robbery a few months ago right? I keep forgetting that you saw Batman and the others!"

"Only a glimpse," You lied. You felt uncomfortable talking about your near-death experience. "I don't really remember much anyway."

Luckily you were saved from talking any more about the incident when a handsome young man walked up to the two of you and introduced himself to Rora.

"Hi there, you're Aurora Chopra aren't you?" He had blonde hair and bright green eyes that reminded you of a cat.

"Y-Yes!" You couldn't see the blush due to Rora's tanned skin but you could tell that she was obviously interested in the man.

"My name is Jack and I was wondering if you wanted to chat about your paintings with me. May I?" He offered an arm to your best friend, who agreed immediately and walked away with him, looking back to give you a subtle thumbs up.

You snorted at Rora's already developed infatuation with Jack and walked around the art gallery some more. You met some more business people and even met some scientists who worked in Wayne labs. You had an interesting conversation with them about their work and after a few "good lucks" on your future and "goodbyes", you left them alone and walked away.

Looking at the time, you realised that the art expedition was nearly over and some were starting to leave, so you said goodbye to a giddy Aurora, who was having the time of her life talking with Jack, and exited Liberty Hall.

That was when you realised that you didn't have a ride home. Rora had initially offered to take you home but you didn't want to spoil her bonding with Jack.

"Another deja vu," You muttered, remembering when you were walking home from the library a few weeks ago because you didn't want to call your best friend. "Except this time I probably won't meet Red Hood again."

You started walking down the stairs of the buildings when you heard a voice call out your name. You turned around to see Jason Todd jog up to you.

"You're walking home alone?" He asked you.

You nodded. "Yep. Don't worry, I have pepper spray."

He snorted at your comment. "Like that's reassuring. Anyway, Bruce and the others are going to stay longer here and your friend asked if I could take you home."

You blinked, surprised that Rora was close enough with Jason to ask to give you a lift home. You didn't know Jason very well but he seemed trustworthy so you decided to agree to his offer and followed him to his car.

"Fine... but any funny business and you'll see just how reassuring my pepper spray is."

He laughed a little at that and slowed down to let you catch up to his pace. The two of you finally reached his car, which was sleek black and obviously very expensive.

"Nice car," You whistled, stopping a little to admire it before getting in.

Jason seemed very pleased at that and smirked. "I know right?"  
He started the engine and it wasn't until he was driving onto the road that you started a conversation.

"So you do literature?" You asked.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool," He said. "The others didn't believe that I was going to do that at first."

"Why?" You asked curiously.

He chuckled sheepishly. "People don't really see me as the... bookish type. If anything it's Barbara that's known to be a lover of books. That's Dick's girlfriend by the way."

You hummed in understanding. "So what are your favourite books?"

You saw a light shine in the boy's eyes before he went on a roll talking about his favourite books and plays, and you were glad that you asked the question. You couldn't help but smile at Jason's passion for literature and felt yourself engaging into the conversation, and it wasn't until you were in the middle of talking about a whole new topic of who-knew-what that you realised that the car was already in front of your apartment complex.

"Well that was quick," You said in surprise.

Jason smiled and shrugged. "Time flies by when you're having fun, I guess."

"Well you're right about that. I really did have fun." You told him genuinely, watching him blink in surprise before rubbing the back of his neck.

"I had fun too. See you at campus sometime?" He asked and smiled when you nodded and started the engine to drive away.

His sleek black car was almost invisible in the night and for a brief moment, you wondered what the batmobile looked like.

***

Jason Todd expertly parked the car into the garage before walking into the mansion. The Wayne manor was surprisingly quiet even though everyone was already home. It made him sigh in relief; he could sneak up to his room and hopefully not get caught.

Or not.

"You're pretty late then Jason," grinned Dick as he appeared in front of the teenager.

Jason jumped before giving the man a glare. "You dick, stop doing that."

"Yeah yeah," Dick waved it off before smirking at him. "Why did you arrive after all of us?"

"I was busy."

"Yeah, busy dropping off his girlfriend," teased Stephanie, pulling him into the living room.

Jason got out of her grip before scoffing. "She's not my girlfriend ok? She's just a friend."

"Sure keep saying that," crooned Tim from the couch. "But from all these years I've known you, I've never seen you be this chummy with a girl."

"Jason likes her," added Cass, making Jason sigh. Of all the rare times Cass decided to say something, it had to be this.

"Oh come on! I'm friends with plenty of girls!" And at their disbelieving looks, he moaned. "Ok so I'm 'acquainted' with a few girls. But just because I'm close with her doesn't mean I like her!"

"Well technically, _Red Hood_ is close with her. Jason Todd is just the awkward rich boy who made a fool of himself at the art expedition," came Damian's voice from the other side of the room. "Your awkward interaction with her has made you an embarrassment and has tainted the family name, Todd."

"Shut it Satan Spawn," growled Jason and turned to Tim and Stephanie. "And speaking of superheroes, I heard what you said to her at the gallery! You nearly gave my identity away!"

"Sorry! We forgot that she only knows you as Red Hood!" cried Tim, putting his hands up.

"But seriously," added Stephanie. "You need to be friends with her with your civilian identity. She's such a great girl! Did you know she's one of the best in her classes?"

The others "oooh"-ed at the fact but Jason spluttered. " _You hacked into her files?_ "

"I hacked into her files actually," came Barbara's voice from the kitchen. "Any girl who makes Jaybird act like a lovestruck idiot is a special one."

"Babs!" cried Jason before Bruce came in.

"As interesting as it is chatting about Jason's love life, it's time for patrol. Go suit up," He said. The rest of family groaned at having to stop flustering Jason but the man sighed in relief.

But before he could exit the room, Bruce held him back and waited for the rest of the Bat family to go out of hearing range.

"Jason, who you take an interest in is none of our business," He began and quickly carried on before Jason could say anything. "However we still need to keep our double lives a secret and it's too early to trust her. Be close with her in any of your identities but it has to be only one. She's a smart girl and we can't risk her connecting the dots from your civilian identity to Red Hood. Understand?"

"Yeah yeah, I know," mumbled Jason before heading out. It wasn't like he was planning on doing it anyway; he just never expected her to meet him in his civilian form at the art expedition. And the accidental meeting at campus was just an unlucky coincidence. It was just a shame that she had befriended Red Hood first and not Jason Todd, otherwise the whole thing would've been so much easier.

"Hey Red Hood," grinned Nightwing, twirling a batarang around when Jason entered the Batcave. "Can I be the best man at your wedding?"

"Oh FUCK OFF."


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your quiet evening at home is interrupted by an injured Red Hood.

"He's so amazing! He's so smart and cute and kind and believes in equal rights and feminism and-"

You resisted the urge to yawn as you slouched lower into your couch, listening to Rora ramble on about how much she liked Jack, the boy she had met at her art expedition three days ago. The two had spent a great time together the past few days and Rora was ecstatic.

"You really like him, huh?" You chuckled into the phone when Rora took a deep breath after finishing her VERY long ramble.

"Is it really that obvious?" Squeaked your friend.

"You sound a teeny weeny bit obsessive with him," You said sarcastically. "It wasn't as if you were talking for _one hour straight_."

"OH MY GOD," She groaned. "I was talking for that long?!"

"One hour is a bit of an understatement."

"Stop being so sarcastic!" Rora whined. "I sound like a crazy fangirl! I'm so sorry. Listening to me talk for ages must have annoyed you so much."

"It's fine!" You laughed. "It's nice to know that you've finally met a really nice guy. Just try not to fall in love too quickly, okay?"

"Yes _mum_ ," said Rora and you swore you could hear her rolling her eyes. "I gotta go, I got some commissions I need to get on with. Take care!"

"Bye! Have a nice time!"

You shut off your phone and got up from the sofa, rolling your shoulders and stretching your limbs. You were meant to clean your apartment two hours ago but Rora had called and you had spent the time chatting to her. You groaned at the amount of work needed to be done and collected your cleaning equipment.

An hour later you groaned even louder at how boring the job was. You had just finished cleaning the kitchen but still had the living room and windows to clean. The work was time-consuming and you wanted nothing more than to give up and go and have a long relaxing bath. Sighing loudly, you rubbed your temples with your thumbs before an idea popped into your head.

Five minutes later, the radio blasted out a catchy pop song, you dancing to the music and cleaning the table with new found enthusiasm.

"Why didn't I think of this earlier?!" You laughed as you moved your body to the beat shamelessly. Besides, it wasn't as if there was anyone watching so why would you need to feel shy?

That was what you were thinking before you lifted your head to go clean the windows and saw Red Hood leaning on the kitchen table, his hand propping his chin up.

"W-WHAT THE HELL!" You screamed, immediately stumbling backwards onto the sofa. "HOW LONG WERE YOU THERE FOR?!"

"Long enough," Shrugged Red Hood, pushing himself from his spot to casually walk towards you. "Nice dancing skills by the way."

You could feel your face burning up in embarrassment as you stared in horror. Oh God, the whole time you were being an embarrassing mess, Red Hood had quietly sneaked into your apartment and silently witnessed everything.

"Didn't I tell you not to come in here uninvited?" You angrily scolded him. But Red Hood didn't seem to be perturbed by your anger.

"I was waiting out there for like ten minutes, you idiot," He scoffed. "You were playing your music too loudly so I just came in. You really should get stronger locks for your window."

You were about to explode with wrath when you spotted the vigilante stiffly leaning on one leg and holding his arm against his stomach in an awkward way. Immediately all the anger you had been feeling washed away and you quickly went up to him.

"Are you hurt?" You asked, staring at his arm.

Red Hood immediately dropped his arm as if he was fine, but you immediately noticed how his shoulders flinched at the pain.

"I'm fine." He insisted but you glared up at him.

"Are. You. Hurt?" You didn't know where you were getting all of this confidence from to confront a six-foot-superhero but you didn't care.

"I said I'm fine. It's just a little scratch." He glared back but you didn't back down.

"Hood," You growled and watched in satisfaction as Red Hood stared at you a little longer before sighing in defeat.

"There was a surprise attack from some villains down in Arkham Asylum," He explained. "We managed to sort out the mess but I was attacked by one of the men."

You sighed before gently placing a hand on his back and steering him to the sofa.

"Sit," You instructed and helped him relax into the sofa. Red groaned a little at the pain whilst you carefully took off his boots and jacket.

"Take off your helmet."

At that Red Hood promptly shook his head. You raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong? Do you not have your second mask on?"

"No I have it on... it's just that you might not like the sight."

You narrowed your eyes. "I can deal with a little bit of blood, Red. We need to treat your injuries before they get infected."

Red Hood once again sighed and lifted his arms to take off his helmet, but you stopped him. "Your arms are hurt. Here, I'll do it."

You leaned forwards and placed your hands on the sides of his helmet to try and ease off the helmet without hurting the vigilante. At the same time you tried to push back the burning feeling of your bodies slightly touching and inwardly cursed. Here was an injured friend and all you could think about was your hormones. It didn't help that the next song playing in the background was one of those... _intense_ songs.

It took a bit of fiddling but finally you managed to gently ease off the helmet, before silently gasping at the large bruise forming on the young man's forehead and the blood on his lips.

"Wow. You really took a beating." You whispered, unconsciously placing a hand on his cheek.

Red Hood shifted uncomfortably and you quickly took your hand away and stepped back. "Sorry."

"No, it's ok."

The atmosphere in the apartment turned tense and uncomfortable as the both of you refused to meet each other's eyes.

"I'll... go get the first aid kit. You try to relax." You stumbled over your words, walking away quickly without waiting for a response.

The first aid kit was in your bathroom and only took around thirty seconds to get out of the cupboard, but you spent a minute breathing in and out as you stared at yourself in the mirror.

Why were you acting like a little school girl in love? You had been so weird and embarrassing (the memory of Red Hood catching you and your dance moves made your cheeks burn in humiliation). Sure Red Hood was cute and attractive but you hardly knew anything about him. You were careful not to pry into his personal life and made sure to steer the conversation away from his civilian life whenever he popped in for a visit. You were curious about who he really was but you were respectful of his privacy. Maybe you were also scared that his real identity was very different from his superhero persona, but you tried not to dwell into it.

"I don't have a crush on Red Hood," You whispered to your reflection. "I can't, it'd be disastrous."

Your reflection looked back at you, as if saying "Oh honey, what can you do about it? You can't do anything right."

You glared at yourself before taking another deep breath and quickly walking out of the bathroom. When you returned to the injured vigilante, you took a second to stare at Red Hood resting his head back against the sofa, before quietly approaching him.

It didn't surprise you when Red tilted his head to look at you when you walked closer, knowing just how good his senses were.

"Here," You opened the kit and took out some bandages and alcohol. "I only have the bare minimum here so we'll try and treat your injuries as best as we can."

"It's fine," Croaked Red. "You really don't have to do this. I can just go back to the others and get treated there."

"You're already here, and I'm not letting you go until you're at least a little better." You  scolded him lightly, jogging to the kitchen and getting some ice and a tea towel before hurrying back. "And besides, why would you come here when you have such bad wounds? You idiot, do you want to die?"

"Oh come on, they're just some light bruises. Besides, it's been a while since I saw you. Thought you felt lonely." He clicked his tongue in a flirtatious manner, but immediately cleared his throat and blushed when you stared at him, and you felt yourself blushing in return at the cute remark and the equally cute sight of the flustered boy.

"I feel honoured." You smiled. "But that isn't an excuse to come here without tending to your health first, you dumbass."

Red Hood cracked a little smile but soon hissed when you put the ice wrapped in the towel on the bruise on his forehead. You felt his body tensing in reflex as you moved to sit beside him, gently holding the ice on his head.

"Sorry," You apologised. "But we really need to ice it."

"I know." He groaned and you felt him minutely relax into you. You could feel your heart beat faster at your touching bodies and the air getting warmer. Red Hood finally calmed down and held the ice pack himself as you busied yourself with treating his split lip and other cuts on his face and neck. His injured arm had a large cut on the side, which required you to spend more time cutting the kevlar and patching it up, then wrapping it tightly with bandages. Red Hood didn't even flinch at the rubbing alcohol being dabbed onto his skin and you silently admired his pain tolerance, even though you knew that it was expected because of his superhero lifestyle.

"Are there any other cuts or injuries?" You asked as you gave him some painkillers, which Red Hood easily dry swallowed.

"Yeah but they're not really that serious," He yawned, settling back onto the sofa. "They're all pretty small so I don't think you need to worry yourself over them."

"That's ok then," You nodded, turning away to pack the plasters and medicine back into the kit. "If you want to change out of your costume, I have some old clothes that I could lend you. Most of them would be a bit small but I have a big hoodie that I'm sure would fit you. Did you eat dinner? Maybe you can eat some-"

You stopped when you felt something lean on your shoulder and turned to see Red Hood completely knocked out beside you, his body unconsciously leaning into yours for the body warmth. You felt your breath hitch as you gazed at the sharp jawline and his relaxed features which cast a peaceful look on his face. Carefully placing the first aid kit onto the coffee table, you tried to get out of his grip, but gave up when you realised that you couldn't do it without waking him up.

You sighed in defeat and shifted to get yourself comfortable, so that the both of you were lying down on the big sofa with Red snuggling into you. You laughed a little at how soft and needy the man seemed to be with human contact in his sleep, whereas when he was awake he always acted cocky and tough.

He was an interesting character, you admitted. He seemed like someone who was arrogant and indifferent but over the two months that you had known him, he was actually quite humorous and friendly under that tough exterior. Sure he swore quite a lot at the beginning but over the few weeks his use of swear words had actually decreased (maybe because you always glared at him whenever he started acting rude) and he had started opening up to you a little about what he did (though you were sure that he was just happy that there was someone who looked forward to his stories and whom he could boast about his skills to).

You snapped out of your thoughts as you felt Red Hood wrap his arms around your waist in his sleep, and felt your cheeks grow hotter as he breathed on your neck. You lifted an arm and gently ran your fingers through his messy hair, chuckling when Red let out a satisfied breath.

"You're such a dork," You whispered. "But I think I like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave feedback and any requests you would like for a chapter!


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Reader is a total, insecure mess here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having the reader go to university when the author has no clue about what goes on in American universities was probably a bad idea but hey, let's just pretend that's how unique Gotham uni is.  
> Also I'm really sorry if this chapter seems pretty disjointed from the previous one. Since this one was written quite a while after chapter five, I couldn't really get the consistency right and I might have missed a few loose ends.

You woke up in the morning with rain pattering outside on the windows and the streets already busy with people out and about. You groggily sat up on your elbows, wondering why the sofa was softer and bigger than usual. It wasn't until you rubbed your eyes open and let out a loud yawn that you realised you were in your bedroom instead of the living room.

_'How the hell did I get he-...OH'_

Red Hood must have brought you here when he woke up. The thought of the vigilante carrying you in his toned arms to your room made your cheeks burn in embarrassment, and you quickly patted them to try and calm down your flustered mind.

He had looked pretty beaten up last night, and the fact that he had let down his guard and fallen asleep in your presence must have meant that he was very tired. Your eyebrows furrowed in concern when you thought about whether he managed to get home last night.

 _'He's a goddamn hero, I'm sure he's fine...'_ You thought. It didn't reassure you though.

However, all thoughts of Red Hood disappeared when your eyes glanced at the clock on the wall and you remembered that today there was a morning lecture. You let out a shriek and scrambled off the bed.

"SHIT! I'M GOING TO BE LATE!"

***

You let out a yawn as you trudged out of the lecture room. Around you, young adults were walking down the halls of the university as they chatted with friends. You waved a quick goodbye to your classmates and walked off in the opposite direction, adjusting your bag on your shoulder as you set off down to Shelly's.

As you walked down the pavement, you breathed a deep sigh and watched the sea of Gothamites around you moving on with their lives. You weren't sure if it was just the dull weather, but you couldn't help but feel a little down. It was the same feeling you had when you left the familiarities and comforts of your home town and family to come here to pursue your education and ambitions. You felt... alone, even though you had wonderful friends from Gotham University who kept you company and helped you settle in, Rora who was absolutely gorgeous and kind-hearted, helping you to navigate the real world, and Red Hood... the one whom you couldn't help but feel so close to even though you hardly knew anything about him.

It was one of those off-days, you realised. Where nothing bad happened but you still couldn't help but feel a little down in the dumps. You clutched your coat tighter around you and dodged the little puddles on the street. Finally you saw the cafe in sight and you hurried up your pace, eager to get out of the cold.

The cheery mood of the coffeehouse lifted up your spirits a little, but you focused on quickly changing into your uniform in the locker room and starting your shift. Today you were stationed at the counter where you had to tend to the customers and their orders. You preferred a job in the back such as washing the dishes or preparing the food, but it was compulsory to rotate jobs with the employees. So you pasted a smile on your face and greeted the customer at the front of the queue.

Your mind didn't have time to be distracted with negative thoughts throughout your shift, too busy with making sure that all the orders were correct and the names were spelt (almost) correctly on the cups. So you found yourself enjoying the busyness and the feeling of being useful and actually having something worthwhile to do. But an hour or so in, you started to feel tiredness creeping into you as you rushed about the area preparing cups of coffee and drinks. Usually Rora would be here to entertain you during these busy hours, but unfortunately today wasn't her shift.

You couldn't help but risk a glance at the clock ticking on the wall beside you, and did nothing to stop the moan from escaping when you realised that you still had three hours left until the end of your shift. But a quick look at your manager assessing the employees in the corner gave you a burst of panic and motivation, and so you carried on with your job without a hitch.

It was around the time when the rush of business was settling down and you were occupying yourself with cleaning the counter, when a group of five or six young men and women came in, chattering loudly and pushing and shoving their friends about. The group's rowdiness disrupted the peace of the coffee shop, and you couldn't help but feel a bit of anxiety running through you as they approached the counter and whispered among themselves about what to order. But still, you took a deep breath and got ready to do your job.

You felt a little guilty about automatically labelling them as "trouble", but you still couldn't help but feel nervous when someone from the group replied to an unheard comment with curses and punched his red haired friend in the arm. They seemed like the popular people in school who were capable of causing trouble whenever they felt like it.

As well as that, two of the three dark haired boys within the group were wearing large, expensive sunglasses and jackets with the hoods up which hid their faces (faces you couldn't help but feel were a little familiar). The only ones not looking like shady troublemakers were the red-haired freckled boy, a fierce looking Asian girl with long blonde hair, a sweet looking girl with dark red hair and a broad shouldered boy with black hair and an impassive face.

"Just hurry up and choose what you want, Dick!" said the red-haired boy. "Me and Artemis will go give the orders."

The shorter of the black haired boys with the sunglasses gave a huff. "Fine! I'll just have an espresso. We'll go get a table."

All of them apart from the red-haired boy and the blonde girl, whom you guessed was Artemis, left to get a table. They approached the counter and you quickly disposed of the rags to greet them.

"Hello! What can I get you?"

"We'll have two espressos, a chai tea, a tropical smoothie, a strawberry frappé and... what did Megan want, Wally?" Artemis turned around to ask "Wally", the red-haired boy.

Wally looked up from drooling over the cakes to answer Artemis. "A green tea. She's trying this new healthy thing. Don't know why she would do that, her body is already hot as-OW, WOMAN! WHAT THE HELL?"

Artemis brought back her fist with a smirk (and you couldn't help but snort a little at the couple's antics). "You're dating this woman, baywatch. And Megan is dating Connor."

"Would that be all?" You quickly interrupted when the Wally opened his mouth to fire back a remark. As amusing as it was watching the couple exchange jabs, you didn't want them to hold up the queue and face some impatient customers.

"Actually, can we get a couple of these cakes?" Wally enthusiastically pointed to the chocolate delights sitting behind the glass display. Artemis rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's greedy appetite but didn't stop him.

You quickly added up all the orders and told them their payment, thanking them when they gave you some bills. "I'll bring the food to your table if you want."

"Thanks!" And with that, Wally and Artemis collected their receipts and went to join their friends.

You quickly made the drinks and cakes and put them on two trays, before asking one of your colleagues to take over your post and carrying the trays to the group. They had decided to pick a table near the corner, which was a little hard for you since you had to weave through chairs and tables blocking the way. By the time you reached their group, your arms were starting to throb lightly from the heavy trays.

Artemis and Wally were chatting with "Dick", who now had his sunglasses off to reveal deep blue eyes. Beside Artemis, "Megan" (well you guessed it was Megan even though the others seemed to say her name with a weird pronounciation like "M'gann") was rambling on about something that happened at her workplace to her large framed boyfriend "Connor", who was just quietly listening and smiling softly at her. Sitting on the chair closest to you, the remaining boy was ignoring the chatter going on around him and was just scrolling idly through his phone. His head was resting against his propped up hand so his face was turned away from you and all you could see was black messy hair under a high branded beanie.

Megan seemed to somehow sense your struggles even before you managed to get close to the table, because she quickly tapped Connor on the arm and gestured to you. He gave you a glance and got up to help you with the trays.

"Thanks," you said as he easily took both trays into his hands. You grabbed some of the drinks to help lighten the load. The young man opened his mouth to seemingly stop you, but he quickly blinked and closed his mouth. You raised an eyebrow but let it go, deciding to ignore him giving a sheepish look to Megan.

"Here are your food and drinks." You began calling out their orders and passing the drinks and cakes to the right person. The group took their orders with friendly "thank you"s. Finally you lifted the last drink on the tray and held it up.

"An espresso?" You gestured towards the cup of coffee.

"Oh, that's Jason's," said Dick, pointing to the boy focused on his phone.

The boy looked up when he heard his name, before turning to you to get his drink. But the moment he laid his eyes on you, he froze, his arms stopping in their position from taking the coffee out of your hands. He stared at you with lips parted open in silent shock and confusion.

You were also staring at him in surprise, not expecting to see Jason Todd again. He looked different from his smart appearance at the expedition, instead now wearing an expensive leather jacket over a simple t-shirt, jeans and a stylish grey beanie. There were plasters on his forehead and cheek, as if he had been in a fight, and his hair was left tousled under the beanie without any product. There was no denying how attractive he looked, and you had to mentally scream at yourself to stop staring at him like a piece of meat.

It seemed like ages before the two of you broke eye contact and turned away from each other. Jason seemed a little flustered, and you yourself could feel your cheeks getting hot in embarrassment.

"So... you guys know each other?"

Oh god... you had completely forgotten about the others! Heat once again flourished up your neck as you jumped a little and snapped your eyes to the rest of the inhabitants of the table. Wally, the one who had interrupted, was grinning widely, waggling his eyebrows not-so-subtley at Jason, who was adamant on not looking in his friends' direction. Artemis and Megan were whispering together and kept looking at you in what looked like... curiousity? Connor just didn't seem to care and carried on drinking his tea with an impassive face, but Dick was alternating between a face of pure shock and a face of amusement and mischief.

"W-What?" Your voice cracked and you quickly cleared your throat. God what was up with you today?!

"You seem to know my brother," grinned Dick. "Have you met before?"

"Yes."

"No."

Your breath caught in your throat as you looked at Jason, not bothering to hide the hurt expression on your face. 'No'? Why did he lie? Was he embarrassed to be associated with you? Was there something wrong with you? Jason seemed to be surprised with his answer too, because he quickly bit his lip and looked at you with wide eyes. But you just turned away and began to stack up the trays, anger and hurt beginning to pile up into a storm inside.

Wally seemed to be oblivious to the whole thing. "Wait, how's that possible? Do you know each other or not?"

Beside him, Artemis slapped a hand to her forehead, and let out a growl of "Wally, you dumbass".

You exhaled loudly and tucked the trays under your arm, ready to just leave and just go home. Home as in back to your family, away from this stupid city.

"We go to the same university," you clarified with a monotone voice. Out of the corner of your eye, you sensed Jason flinching at your tone. "We've met once, but we're not really friends."

And with that, you turned around and started to walk away. But before you could escape into the safety of the staff room, Dick's voice called out a "Wait!"

You quenched down your frustration with a deep sigh, before slowly turning around to give a controlled, yet irritated look at the group.

"Yes?" You asked, fists clenching around the trays to control your tone. "Is there anything you need?"

Dick looked at you in thought, as if he had just realised something but needed one last thing to be sure.

"Your name," he said. "What is it?"

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, before gesturing to your name tag on your uniform. You watched as he mouthed your name slowly, his eyes comically widening before snapping to a silent Jason.

"That's _her_? You-"

You turned around after that, not wanting to listen to what those people had to say about you. You felt upset, betrayed, angry. Jason Todd had seemed so kind and genuine that day when he dropped you back to your apartment. And sure you had only met Jason once, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt. He had probably been dared to take you home that night and be all nice and charming to you like the goddamn playboy he probably was. He had probably told humiliating things about you to Dick, which was why he had pretended to not know you. And to him, you were probably just a plaything, something to mess around with and throw away after a little while like the useless ugly thing you were.

You could feel your eyes throb with hot tears, and you quickly blinked to get rid of them, before peeking at the clock. You couldn't help but let out a choked sigh of relief when you saw that it was the end of your shift. At least something was going right today. Walking into the locker room, you quickly changed out of your uniform and into your casual clothes, before throwing on your coat and bag and rushing out of the cafe. You didn't even bother waving a goodbye to your co-workers, just eager to get back to your apartment and wallow in misery and insecurity.

What a shitty day.


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You keenly await the arrival of your favourite vigilante, and wait even more, and even more...  
> It's safe to say that when he does turn up, you aren't very happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will probably only come at around July-ish. Final exams are held in May and June, so I'll be devoting my time to fully focus on that. 
> 
> Obviously, these exams are incredibly important for me (the reader's study obsession in this fanfiction pretty much reflects me so you can pretty much tell how much of an education freak I am haha).
> 
> Anyway hope you guys are doing well, and I hope that you enjoy this chapter! I pretty much made myself squeal with the fluffy images that overflowed my mind when I was writing this so I'm pretty sure the same thing will happen to you lmao.

You came home to an empty and dark apartment, with hardly a sense of life in it. Kicking off your shoes, you threw your bag and coat on a nearby chair and flopped onto the sofa, exhaustion completely weighing down your body.

It was only 6 o'clock in the evening, and usually you would be doing some work or preparing dinner. But right now you felt like your whole body was heavy like lead, and you couldn't find the effort to lift yourself up. You had to write up an experiment report, and call your family to see how they were doing, and change the bedsheets, and eat food and... ugh. Too much to do, and so little motivation.

You humourlessly chuckled. Ending an already dreary day with an even drearier mood all because of a boy you weren't even that close to. Even you didn't know realise how much you were affected by this. You shouldn't be, right? You shouldn't let a boy's idiotic behaviour ruin your day, right? But that didn't stop it from upsetting you a little. After all, nobody liked being the butt of a joke.

You laid about for the rest of the hour, scrolling through your phone and letting your mind travel to all sorts of other things. Letting out another deep exhale, you lifted your head and got ready to get up, before something on the coffee table caught your eye. It was the first aid kit, still open from when you were taking care of...

Red Hood! That's right... maybe he would be coming tonight!

The thought of seeing the vigilante again automatically brought a smile to your face, and with new-found vigour you jumped to your feet and went to tidy up your place. You hung your coat on the door and placed your bag in the corner of your bedroom, before going to the bathroom to take a quick shower. As the warm water soothed your skin and rid your body of day grime, you briefly planned on what to do for Red Hood. You should prepare something to do this time.

Usually he only stayed for about half an hour during his visits, so watching a film or TV show wouldn't be very useful. Maybe he could help you with your work? You knew he was incredibly smart and versatile, often giving good tips for your reports when he read them. But that was just boring. You wanted to do something nice and relaxing, something to help you forget about the miseries of today...

...Dinner? Maybe you could cook him something nice to help him with his patrols? You weren't at Gordon Ramsay level of cooking, but you knew enough to make decent meals and live independently. Yes! You should do that!

You finished your shower and went to your room, putting on some baggy, comfortable clothes and going to the kitchen to make dinner. Red Hood usually came at around ten o'clock or so, so you had about two and a half hours to prepare something simple yet appetising. In the end you decided on making some nice stir fried noodles, with vegetables and a generous amount of mixed spice. It was something you usually made when you had the time, so you didn't have to put much effort, confident with your experienced steps and movements.

It was around 9:00pm when the bowl of steaming food was sitting on the counter besides two plates and forks, with the kitchen and dishes cleaned up. You stretched your limbs a little and flopped onto the couch, planning on reading a book to pass the time. Your stomach was growling a little from the delicious scent of the food wafting into your nose, but you resisted the temptation and waited for the vigilante to arrive first before beginning.

But ten minutes turned to thirty minutes, and thirty minutes turned to an hour, and an hour turned into two hours. And it wasn't until you opened your eyes with your book lying open on your belly did you realise that somehow you had drifted off to sleep. And a glance at the clock on the wall told you that it was currently one in the morning. You had been waiting for four hours!

You forced your aching limbs to pull you up, leaving the now forgotten book on your sofa and rushing to the window. Maybe Red Hood had came in, seen you sleeping and decided not to disturb you? But when you went to the window, you found it locked and secure. There was no note or anything to say that he had even come.

You could feel disappointment seep into you, and all of a sudden you lost your appetite. You unhappily packed the food into containers and put it into the fridge, deciding to go to just go to bed and have the noodles as your lunch tomorrow. You were stupid to think that Red Hood would prioritise his time to come visit you every night. After all, he was very busy. Saving innocent civilians and taking down super villains were far more important than visiting you. There was even a time when you hadn't seen him for three weeks, so you weren't too surprised by his lack of arrival.

Nevertheless, each night that went by with no Red Hood, you felt more disappointment weighing you down. It felt weird not seeing the spandex clad vigilante creeping into your living room and casually starting up random conversations with you. Or when he would enter the apartment with mud caked on his jacket and boots, and you would scold him when the dirt got onto your clean furniture.

After a week you started taking walks in the dark. You would tell yourself that it was just to help you get rid of the stress building up from university life and the upcoming exams, but you knew that wasn't the main reason. Every time you heard a noise in an alleyway, or saw the bat sign shining brightly in the sky, your thoughts went straight to Red Hood and the hope that you would 'bump into him'. It wasn't until a particularly uneventful walk in the night that the realisation that something might have happened to Red Hood actually hit you. It made you freeze in your step, your heart rate beginning to accelerate with fear.

Oh God, how you could you have overlooked it? With a job as dangerous as the one Red Hood had as a vigilante, chances of death were very high. The thought that Red Hood could be bleeding to death somewhere without your knowledge made your stomach twist with anxiety, and you had to quickly walk back to your home before you ended up sobbing in the middle of the empty street. You managed to hold out hope however. You may have only seen him fight once, but you knew that he was incredibly strong and tough. He wasn't the type of person to let death take control.

Very soon, the stress of examinations took your attention, and you focused on your studies with dedicating sleepless nights to finishing reports and doing revision. Red Hood was still in the back of your mind, but you trusted his capabilities, and the thought of failing after only two and a half months at Gotham University scared you.

The next couple of weeks seemed like clockwork. You woke up early, worked out a little, prepared for your lectures, endured your lectures, went to the library, survived your shifts at Shelly's, skilfully avoided Rora's worried looks, went back home, studied even more, read a book, ate dinner, went out for a night walk, kept your eyes peeled for a certain vigilante, went back home, fell asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow, and woke up again to repeat the whole cycle. You were constantly tired, so much that Rora sometimes forced you to take a break whilst she took over your duties at the cafe. You knew it was unhealthy, but you couldn't find it in yourself to care about your state of health.

It continued up until the night before your exams, where you had decided to skip your nightly walking ritual to go over your notes once more. You were slumped over the kitchen counter at one in the morning, elbows propping your body up as you twirled a highlighter between your fingers and furrowed your eyebrows in deep concentration at the pages. In fact, you were so focused that you never even sensed the clicking of the window being skilfully unlocked. Nor did you see a red helmeted figure silently climbing into the living room, spotting your tired form clothed in a baggy jumper, that kept slipping down your shoulders, and black leggings whilst hunching over the counter. And it wasn't until you finally looked up from your notes to go take a short break did you spot the man, whom you hadn't seen in nearly a month, leaning against the sofa in front of you with his arms crossed and his katana balanced on the head of the furniture.

For a moment, neither of you moved or said a word. You just stared at Red Hood with wide eyes, a little part of your brain telling you that your sleep deprivation was now making you hallucinate.

"Sup," drawled Red Hood, one arm coming up to give you a two-fingered salute. Okay nope, you weren't hallucinating.

"H-Hi." Your voice cracked from not talking for hours, and you had to cough a little to clear your throat.

The air was still tense, but you couldn't help but keep staring at the vigilante.

Red Hood seemed to squirm under your never-leaving gaze. He stretched the collar of his spandex suit a little, before bringing his arms up to remove his helmet. The helmet unlocked with a soft hiss, and you watched silently as it was removed to reveal Red Hood's black locks moist with sweat, his domino mask still secure on his face and a sheen of sweat covering his tanned skin.

"Long time no see, huh?" He joked nervously, one hand coming up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly.

For a while you remained silent, before a whisper left your lips.

"'Long time no see'?" You growled softly. You quietly moved away from the back of the counter to slowly approach Red Hood, who was beginning to look even more nervous at your concerning behaviour.

"Long time... no.... see?!" You repeated a little louder, moving faster towards the man.

"Uhh, Pretzels? Everything ok?" His use of his weird nickname for you did little to ease your growing anger, and you watched with minor satisfaction as he anxiously scurried behind the sofa so that it was separating the two of you.

"Everything... OKAY?!" You screeched, finally letting it all out. You swiftly threw yourself over the sofa at Red Hood, who instinctively caught you before you could hit the coffee table and hurt yourself. But you were betting on that action, grabbing his body so that the two of you stumbled and rolled onto the floor, limbs tangled and bodies squashed together. You managed to come out on top and quickly straddled the man, before punching his upper body with uncontrolled rage.

"You disappear... for a month... and you think... that... you can just casually... come over... like nothing every happened?!" You emphasised each phrase with a punch, and although you knew they were too weak to do any harm onto the vigilante, you still continued with your barrage.

"And you say "SUP"? REALLY?" You carried on shouting as you attacked him. Red Hood half-heartedly blocked your punches as he lay there on the floor of your apartment, and the small subtle smirk that graced those oh-so-perfect lips just fuelled your rage even more. You grabbed a cushion from the chair next to you and started swatting his head, growling at his yelps of complaints and occasional chuckle.

"Woah woah woah, ok!" He tried to say as his face continued to get hit with the cushion. "How about we just... talk this out, ok?"

"No!" And with that you gave him one last smack with the cushion before throwing it away to the side and scrambling up to your feet. And before he could stand up as well, you grabbed the katana lying on the head of the sofa and took it out of its sheath.

"Oh shit," whispered Red Hood when he saw you with his sword, before quickly running away from you as you chased him with the weapon.

What followed next was an epic game of cat and mouse as you chased a six foot vigilante with a bloody reputation around the apartment with a sharp exotic weapon. Red Hood skilfully flipped over the counter and tables and furniture, desperately trying to escape the screeching banshee intent on beheading him. But you managed to keep up with his pace, screaming promises of pain into the back of his head. Your anger had actually dissolved earlier on in the chase, but you were still determined to teach the man a lesson.

Red Hood seemed to be having fun as well, despite the risk of being tortured and having his head chopped off. He let out bursts of laughter every time you accidentally stumbled over a cushion lying on the floor and began to constantly mock you by sticking out his tongue and letting out taunts.

"Better be careful with that katana, Pretzels," he called out at one point as he leaned against the kitchen counter and watched you struggle to stop the sword from cutting you. "Wouldn't want you to get hurt now, would we?"

"Shut it, Devil's Child!" You retorted before finally choosing to abandon the weapon and just catch Red Hood with your own hands. You threw the katana onto the sofa and raced after the boy, who stuck out his tongue and raced to the direction of your bedroom and bathroom.

When you entered your bedroom, you saw no sign of Red Hood. The light was switched off but there was enough light from the living room for you to easily walk around the room.

"Come out, Red," You called out. "I need my revenge."

You slowly walked around, peeking into the little hiding spots in the room. It was as if he had disappeared, even though you had clearly seen him enter your bedroom.

But just as you were about to leave the room and wait for him to come out by himself, you felt a presence behind you. But before you could react, a strong arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you into a hard chest.

"Gotcha," breathed Red Hood, his breath tickling the back of your ear. You felt your cheeks heat up, and attempted to move out of his hold. But he just wrapped his arms around you tighter and playfully leaned his entire body weight against yours, unbalancing the two of you and causing you to both fall onto the bed.

You couldn't help but let out a muffled giggle as you tried to wriggle out of Red Hood's tight grip. It was proved impossible however, so you made do with twisting your body to face Red Hood as the two of you lay sprawled on the bed. Red Hood's chin rested on the top of your head and you kept your body close enough to his that you could hear the thud of his heart beat. It was almost relaxing, and you could feel your eyes getting heavier with drowsiness, exhaustion finally catching up.

For a while, the two of you laid on the bed without a sound, before his voice softly broke the silence in the room. "Hey, sorry for leaving you without telling you."

You shifted up a little so that your faces were directly facing each other.

"It's ok," you whispered back as you looked at him. "You're a crime fighting hero. I understand how hectic things must be."

Red Hood snorted a little at the "hero" part. "I used to kill people and break the law, which isn't exactly part of the hero guidelines."

"You killed bad guys. That should mean something, right?"

"Try asking Batman that," he scoffed.

You watched him for a little while, noticing how his hair flopped down to brush over his mask. Without realising it, you reached a hand to run it through his hair, carefully brushing the locks out of his face. You were only aware of what you were doing when you heard the satisfied sigh escape Red Hood's lips, and with embarrassment flooding into you, you quickly withdrew your hand. Your face only burned even more when you saw Red Hood smiling a little at your flustered attitude, and you were almost certain that behind that mask those eyes were watching you with amusement.

"You know you can keep going, right?" He teased. "Not like I'm complaining."

"Oh shut it," you rolled your eyes. But despite that, you didn't stop your hand from going back to playing with his hair, trying to hide your smile when you felt Red Hood breathing out a satisfied exhale again.

"You seem to be enjoying this," you remarked. "Fighting criminals must be exhausting."

Red Hood scoffed. "Says the one. No offence, but you look like you haven't slept in years."

"It feels like years," You yawned. "University is torturing my ass with the exams-"

"-tomorrow, yeah."

You nodded your head, before a sudden realisation made you furrow your eyebrows. "That's right... but how did you know that?"

It was minute, but you still felt the body next to you tensing up at that question.

"I have contacts at the university," he said. "You tend to know these things."

It was a perfectly believable explanation, but you knew that there was something more to that. It brought back your suspicion from a couple months ago that Red Hood's civilian counterpart actually went to the same university as you, and that you had probably been passing him in the corridors. Hell, the two of you might have even had a proper conversation without you even knowing! There was an urge inside of you to ask Red Hood, to grab any information on his secret identity. But you resisted, fearful of what would happen. Red Hood was a guarded character, and would definitely be incredibly protective of anything that could lead to the discovery of his identity, just like any other vigilante or hero. And besides, the two of you had only known each other for about three months now. Of course he would never trust you with his civilian identity, no matter how comfortable he seemed to be when he was with you. No, you would respect his privacy, even if that meant forcefully quenching down your curiosity.

"Any chance you could ask these contacts to leak the papers?" You joked, and watched as Red Hood relaxed again, relieved that you had bought his lie. "I could really use it."

"That is cheating." He poked you in the forehead with a finger. "And besides, it's bad to abuse power like that."

"Says the one who carries guns with him in the night and shoots people," you retorted.

"Bad people," he shot back.

The two of you childishly stuck out your tongues at each other at the same time, before dissolving into silent chuckles. This moment here in your small bedroom, with you snuggled against a grimy vigilante who was probably messing up your sheets, was so normal yet so extraordinary. You felt so comfortable and safe here as you quietly chatted with Red Hood, finally relaxed and content for the first time in weeks. You were oblivious to everything around you, yet everything that Red Hood did and said, every breath and chuckle he let out, it enveloped your senses and forced you to focus on him and only him. Not that you were complaining. But it was a great feeling to be here with him, and you wanted this moment to last forever.

But not everything always went the way you wanted it to. You couldn't help but let out an annoyed breath of air when the watch on Red Hood's wrist beeped and flashed, signalling a message from one of his fighting allies. Red Hood let out a huge groan and pulled you closer to him, burying his face into your head.

"You know, pretending to be unaware of something won't make it go away," you whispered in a mock-condescending manner.

"I can try" was his muffled retort.

"That could be a cry of help from one of your crime fighting buddies," you pretended to be horrified. "What if they're currently bleeding out as you're here, comfortable in my warm bed?!"

"Shut up," Red Hood whispered and squeezed your face into his chest to stop you from talking. "They can bleed out for all I care."

Your shoulders shook from muffled laughter, before you forcefully pulled yourself away from Red Hood. "Seriously though, you should go. You have obligations, remember?"

Red Hood whined like a little child, and you had to pull him up to get him off the bed. The vigilante doing nothing but acting like dead weight certainly wasn't helping as you struggled to drag him out of the room.

"Come on, you manchild," you groaned. "Stop being such a stubborn brat."

Red Hood let out a moan of defeat and picked himself up off the floor. "God, I hate it when you're the sensible one."

You rolled your eyes. "Well someone needs to be. Come on, you have some kicking-ass to do."

"Yay!" He sarcastically cheered, placing the katana back into its sheath behind his back and picking up his helmet.

You followed him to the window, watching as he peeked out to see if there was anyone was around outside, before he turned to you.

"I'll be back tomorrow, ok?" He said. "I promise."

"You don't have to, you know," you chuckled. "Saving people is far more important than making sure a whiny teenager isn't exhausted by life."

Red Hood snorted and placed his helmet over his head. You watched it click into place, marvelling the smooth red surface of the helmet and how strong it looked.

"Trust me," said Red Hood. "You're not the only whiny person here who needs to get away from life."

He climbed out of the window and onto the fire escape. Before he could jump off, you called out to him.

"Don't be late tomorrow! There'll be noodles waiting for you!" You called.

The red helmet turned towards you, and even though you couldn't see his face, you could feel the grin from the man under that helmet.

"Can't wait," came his muffled voice. "And get some sleep. Passing exams are only ever possible if you're actually awake for them."

And with that, he shot a grappling hook up to the roof of the building, giving you a salute before being pulled up. You watched until his form disappeared over the edge of the roof, before securing the window shut and closing the curtains. You waited to make sure you were really alone, before letting out a quiet laugh and rubbing your blushing cheeks.

Wow, you had it bad for that guy.


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red Hood takes you on a little flight trip to take your mind off of your exams, only for a few things to be brought into the light. Safe to say, exams were the last things on your mind after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was meant to come over a month ago, and for that I'm really sorry! My exams finished mid-June and I got started with the chapter after that but writer's block decided to kick my ass and I literally couldn't write a thing. And after that I went on holiday abroad for three weeks where there was no internet so I couldn't do anything there. Now I'm back, and I'll try to do at least monthly updates.
> 
> Also I just watched "To all the boys I loved before" on Netflix and now I can't help but imagine Noah Centineo as Jason Todd, oh no.
> 
> I've also started a Tim Drake/Reader story, "The Quarter-life Crisis Club", so i hope you'll check that out too. Just go on my profile and you'll see it in my works. Thank you!

"Ok, why don't we take a break?"

Red Hood tossed the colourful revision cards onto the coffee table and flopped back against the sofa.

You sat up from your position next to him and tossed him a begging look. "Come on, just a little bit more. I need to feel completely prepared."

"But we've been going at this for ages," whined Red Hood. He had come over a little while ago to visit you, just as he had been doing for the last three nights without fail. All of those three visits usually involved you dragging him to the sofa and forcing him to help you go over your notes for whatever exam was taking place the next day. And all of those three visits usually involved Red complaining and moaning, but never once did he refuse. It made you feel happy just thinking about it, having a friend like him who would go out of their way to help you and make sure you weren't panicked or stressed.

But right now, you felt nothing _but_ panic and stress.

You looked at him blankly. "We've been going at this for literally _twenty minutes_."

Hood tossed you a cheeky grin before jumping up to his feet and stretching his limbs. "Well that's long enough. Come on, let's do something to clear your mind."

"I don't need my mind cleared, Red." You crossed your arms and leaned back against your seat. "I still don't feel ready for tomorrow's exam."

The vigilante sighed. "Everyone feels like that. It's normal. Besides, too much last-minute studying can overexert your brain and turn it to mush. And you can't do exams with a mushy brain. Stop the revision until after your exam tomorrow."

You bit your lip, knowing that what he said was true. But still, a big part of you was nagging you to go over those notes _again_ and _again_ and _again_ , because otherwise everything you didn't look at would come up, and then you would fail, and then you would get kicked out, and then you would have to leave Gotham, and you would never see Rora and your friends again, or have those nice pretzels again, or see Red Hood again...

"Hey." You snapped out of your daze to see Red Hood looking down at you with an eyebrow raised. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," you sighed. "You're probably right... I need to do something to distract me."

Red Hood tilted his head and ran a hand through his hair thoughtfully. You resisted the urge to stand up and run your own fingers through those dark locks, instead snapping your gaze away to focus on the vigilante's red helmet lying on the table. But the sound of Red Hood's hum brought your eyes back to him, where he was wearing a mischievous grin.

"...What?" You asked slowly, and a little hesitantly.

"I have an idea," he grinned. "Let's go outside!"

Your only reaction was to blink at him once, and then again.

"Go outside?" You raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"The fresh air would do you good."

"This is Gotham. There's nothing fresh about the air here."

Red Hood rolled his eyes. "So? It doesn't matter. Come on."

He grabbed his helmet from the table and fastened it on, before stretching his arm out towards you. For a moment, you looked at his masked face tiredly, before you sighed in defeat. You placed your hand in his, before letting out a yelp when he gripped your hand and suddenly pulled you up from the sofa, causing you to fly into his chest and smack your face against his armoured body.

"Fucking... ow!" You stumbled back and rubbed your head, shooting a poisonous glare at the man.

"Sorry!" He chirped. He didn't sound sorry at all.

You grumbled and let out a string of curses, but you still followed him across the room, where Red Hood opened the window and climbed out into the fire escape. You climbed after him soon after, the chilly air quickly enveloping you. You wrapped your arms around you and stood next to Red Hood, peering out into the night sky.

It was just past midnight, and the full moon cast a silvery light across the city of Gotham. Despite the clouds of pollution and the tall, dull buildings covering the horizon, you had to admit that it was beautiful and strangely calming. What little sounds there were of Gotham's nightlife were forced into the background and became white noise. Down below onto the street, you could see two squirrels chasing each other down the slabbed pavement. They were moving so quickly and energetically that it brought a grin to your face at the amusing sight.

The fire escape you two were standing on didn't have much room, so both you and Red Hood had to stand pretty close together. Your arms were barely touching, but you could feel the heat of his body warming you through the tiny gap between the two of you. It was even more comforting than the calming silence, and you couldn't help but focus more on it.

"Pretty great, huh?" Red Hood's voice breathed right next to you. He was facing right ahead, looking at everything that was Gotham.

You hummed in response. "Pretty great indeed. Kinda makes you forget that this place is a literal hellhole."

He let out a sharp snort at that, and his shoulders shook in muted laughter. You couldn't but chuckle along as well, sneaking a peek at his tall form. He looked relaxed and content from the lines of his broad shoulders, which were loose from tension.

"So," he began, tapping his grappling gun strapped to his belt. "Wanna go higher?"

It took you a moment to understand what he was saying, before you looked up at the rooftop with horror.

" _Up there_? Like _that_?" You hissed. "No way!"

"It'll be fun! And safe!"

"I'm not a vigilante like you! I don't want to fall and break my head!"

"You won't," he said with such reassurance that you almost, _almost_ , believed him. "I'll hold you. Come on!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"You scared?"

"Terrified."

"You got held at gun-point by a robber. This will be a piece of cake compared to that."

"You remember that?"

"It's how we met, course I remember. Come on... _doll_."

You wrinkled your nose. "Please don't call me that."

"Sweetheart, baby, honey bun, cutie pie, apple of my eye-"

"Shut up."

"Snookums, booboo bear, angel cakes, dearest, my bumbling bundle of-"

"I swear to God, Red..."

" _Mi alma_ , _hermosa_ , _jagiya_ , _mon amour_ , _mon canard_ -"

"Okay, stop!" You let out a loud groan. Damn him and his ~~strangely cute~~ weird-as-hell pet names. "I'll do it."

Red Hood quietly cheered in victory and took out his grappling gun. You watched as he climbed up onto the rail and aimed it up at the roof, before pulling the trigger. The wire shot out of the barrel and attaching to the edge of the rooftop. He tugged it a little to make sure it was sturdy, then turned to you.

"Ready?" The faceless helmet looked at you with no expression, yet somehow you could feel the encouragement coming from the man.

You took a few steps towards Red Hood until there was hardly any distance between you, gingerly peeking over the edge. Your apartment floor was pretty high up, and the streets at the bottom were about thirty feet below you. Heart thumping in your ears, you grabbed onto the side and slowly climbed over the rail, so that your bare feet were balancing right on the edge of the fire escape. You were shaking slightly with adrenaline, the fear of falling starting to take control.

"Hey." An arm wrapped around your middle as soon as you climbed over, and pulled you snug against a warm body. You turned your head to see Hood's helmeted face barely a few inches from yours.

"You'll be fine," promised Red Hood. "I promise, I won't let you fall and I'll keep you completely safe. And if after this, you still don't like it, then you will never have to do this again. Okay?"

This time his reassuring voice really did calm your nerves, and you found your lips curling up unintentionally.

"Okay," you breathed. "Okay, I trust you."

"Good. Now, whenever you're ready, you can release your grip on the handrail."

You took a shaky breath, then slowly uncurled your fingers from the side, until your hands were hovering right over the rail. You swallowed, and in the back of your mind you thought about how the whole city could probably hear the thumping of your heart. Red Hood was incredibly patient, gently coaxing you and praising you as you willed your hands to slowly withdraw away. At the same time, you felt the grip around your waist tighten considerably, so much that your body was practically pressed flushed against his.

"Okay?" He asked again. Being so close to him made you feel so much safer, and this time the butterflies in your stomach weren't because of your fear. They were of intensity.

You gave him a smile and locked your arms around his neck. "Ready."

You felt Red Hood gradually push back on his weight, and then with a sudden jerk the two of you were swinging right in the air, aided only by the wire of the grappling gun. You let out a surprised breath and tightened your grip around Red Hood. The pounding of your heart was back, the feel of nothing beneath your feet unusual and overwhelming.

_Oh god, oh god, shit, shit, shit-_

Red Hood was gently whispering things in your ear. The roaring in your ears were drowning out what he was saying, but you forced yourself to focus your mind on his soothing voice, using it as an anchor to bring you back to reality.

"It's ok, I'm here, I'm holding you, you're not going to fall." His voice was level and calming, but you could hear the almost unnoticeable tremors lacing it.

"You're doing great, I'm holding you, it's ok, you're not going to fall-"

You took several deep breaths, resting your cheek against Red's chest and closing your eyes shut to pay full attention to him. Breathe in... and out... and in... and out...

"That's it, take your time, you're safe, completely safe, I won't let anything happen to you-"

You felt your mind coming at ease until you were fully back into reality. But you kept your eyes shut, listening to how soothing his voice was. When you were brave enough to open your eyes again, you lifted your head up and looked right into his face.

"Are you okay?" He quickly asked when he saw you finally calm. "Shit, this was such a stupid idea. Here, we'll go back inside and you can go right to bed. I'll-"

"No, no, no!" You hurriedly interrupted. "I'm fine, totally fine. I just had to get used to this."

"Look, you're obviously still shaken up from this. It's fine, I can take us back-"

"Red." He shut up when you nudged your forehead against his helmet.

"I want to do this," you said with determination. "Take me up. I'm fine. I want this."

There was a moment where Red Hood just stared at you, and you could imagine his face under the helmet twisted in uncertainty, his jaw set in thought. The two of you were still swinging in the air, and you couldn't help but wonder how much Red Hood's arm must be aching. Finally, he let out a small sigh in defeat.

"Fine," he said. "But the minute I think that we need to go back, we're going back."

You grinned cheekily. "Sir, yes, sir."

The vigilante shook his head in amusement, muttering what sounded like, "what a weirdo", under his breath.

"Here we go," he said, adjusting his grip around you. You also held on a little tighter to him, adrenaline pumping through you, before Red Hood released the trigger.

And with a jerk, you suddenly shot up. The wind blew through your hair and you quickly buried your face into Red's shoulder as the two of you went up higher and higher. The butterflies were back, but they were of pure excitement and intensity. What felt like years turned out to be only seconds as the climb suddenly stopped. Red Hood used the momentum caused by the jerk to expertly swing onto the roof.

He carefully placed you onto the roof, only letting go once your shaky legs got used to standing. You were panting slightly as you brushed through your messy hair with your fingers.

"That was..." You breathed. "... _amazing_."

"Really? You liked it?" Red Hood's sceptical voice came from behind you. You turned around to see him rolling his shoulders and massaging his arms.

"Definitely!" You grinned widely. "Let's do it again!"

Red Hood snorted. "I don't think so. I think that's enough action for you tonight."

You whined childishly. You already missed the thrill of flying up into the air, the pull in your stomach and your breathing stuck in your throat. It was beautiful, like a drug, and you wanted more.

"Come on! Please?"

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Nope."

"Pretty please?"

"Nope."

"Babes."

"Oh, so now it's okay to do pet names?" Red Hood crossed his arms and bent down towards you. You could literally _sense_ the shit-eating grin from under that helmet, and there was cockiness practically radiating from his relaxed stance.

"It will be if we can go flying one more time," you retorted. But Red Hood didn't take the bait. He instead walked past you to the edge of the roof, flicking your forehead playfully as he passed you.

"You're just high on adrenaline, you'll get tired soon." He sat down on the ledge and unlocked his helmet, the air rushing out with a _whoosh_ as he took it off and tucked it under his arm.

You couldn't help but stare at his body facing the city, his legs casually swinging off the roof. Every edge and line of his shoulders, arms, torso, they were framed by the silver moonlight. And if you leaned _just_ a little to the left, you could see his face lit up by the moon, highlighting his jaw, the faded white scar on his cheek, and his lips. The wind softly caressed his hair, making the dark strands slowly swing back and forth as if they were dancing. Not for the first time, you realised that Red Hood was beautiful. It wasn't the perfect sort of beautiful that you would see on magazine covers and billboards, but a rough, raw sort, unfiltered and moulded by the things Gotham had to offer.

True to what he said, the adrenaline soon left and you did begin to feel exhaustion subtly weighting down your body. All of a sudden you didn't feel like flying anymore. With a tired sigh, you walked over to the raised ledge and flopped down beside Red Hood. He turned his head slightly to look at you, seeing the tiredness in your face and the yawn threatening to break out.

"Shut up," you half-heartedly muttered when you saw him open his mouth.

"I wasn't going to say anything," he smiled. "...Only that _I-told-you-so_."

You growled and tried to aggressively push him off, but all you managed to do was to weakly nudge against him, where you stayed flopped against his side.

"Alright then," you yawned. "Lesson learned. Always listen to Red Hood, the almighty _papi chulo_."

"Damn right you- what the hell did you just call me?"

You sniggered as Red Hood poked you with his elbow and scoffed, before turning back to the front. You also turned your face to the city, admiring the view now that you were higher up. The twilight sky took up much of the horizon this time, and you could even see some stars peeking through the clouds. The tranquillity of the night let your mind run off with your thoughts. More specifically, your thoughts on _him_.

How did you really feel about Red Hood? You felt something strong for him, that was for sure. A strong sort of friendship? No... it was much more than that. You knew you were definitely attracted to him, who wouldn't be? But these feelings seemed to transcend physical attraction. A large part of you quickly denied it every time that came up. You weren't supposed to like him like _that_. For one, you hardly knew anything about him.

When was his birthday? How old was he? What his childhood like? Did he have a pet? And were you really ready for a relationship now? You were swamped with university, too busy pleasing professors and trying to secure your career to worry about relationships. And even if you did start a relationship, something was bound to go wrong, and then not only would the relationship be over, but also the friendship. You would never see Red Hood again. Could you really risk that?

The rustling next to you brought you out of your thoughts, and you turned your head to see Red Hood poking about through his jacket pockets. You looked as he finally pulled out a little box, and mild surprise overcame you as he flicked open the box to reveal cigarettes. You were still silently watching him (and you knew that he knew that you were watching him) as he placed the cigarette between his lips and searched around through his pockets again, before pulling out a plain silver lighter. He lit the cigarette up, the flame from the lighter bathing his face in a haunting light. You waited until he puffed out a few clouds of smoke before you broke the silence.

"I didn't know you smoked." You had always assumed that the smell of smoke that clung to his body when he visited you was from the polluted air of the city. Your clothes had begun to get that smell from walking through the streets so you had taken the liberty of always wearing a coat or jacket to protect them from the stench of smoke.

"Well, now you know," hummed Red Hood taking a few more drags. "Is it bothering you? I can stop."

You stayed silent, watching the tendrils of smoke dancing off into the sky. The smell was much more stronger than what you would usually face on the streets, and you could feel a cough threatening to rattle its way up your throat.

"No," you lied. "I'm pretty much used to it anyway."

The man chuckled, but there was only a lace of humour. "Liar."

You opened your mouth to contradict him, but quickly stopped when Red Hood took out the cigarette and crushed it on the stone ledge next to him.

"It was obviously bothering you," he said when he caught you staring. "I might not care that it's slowly killing me, but I'd prefer if it didn't kill you either."

"You're more likely to get killed by some alien than to die from smoking."

"That is very correct."

You both laughed a little, but it was short-lived and forced. Pretty soon silence grew between you two, but this time the silence (well on your part) was tense and uncomfortable. You dropped your head down and put a special amount of focus on the loose thread hanging on your pyjama pants. There was a question waiting to burst from you, but you bit your lip. Should you ask it?

"Why do you smoke?" There. It was out.

Red Hood grew silent, turning his face away from you to focus on the streets. You wanted to kick yourself.  _Stupid idiot_. It was a personal question, and you weren't close enough with him to ask him things like this. But that didn't mean that you were curious.

After a few minutes, you gave up and were about to say "forget it" and to drop the whole topic, when the boy beside you suddenly spoke.

"I was in a bad place a few years ago." He muttered, voice so low you had to lean closer a little to hear him. "I was gone for a little while. But then I suddenly came back, only to find that I... had lost everything. I came home to find that there was no place for me, not even an identity. That made me angry, of course."

You were speechless, eyes wide as you paid full attention to his story. In a span of half a minute, you had learnt more about Red Hood than in the last three months.

"I placed all that blame and anger on a certain person and found every possible way to "get him back". I was convinced that his methods were wrong for Gotham and that my way was correct.  Killing to stop crime. Killing to stop violence. Killing to stop killing."

" _An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,_ " you whispered under your breath.

Red Hood heard you though, and he turned his head slightly to face you, the moonlight shining off of the white lenses of the domino mask.

"Yeah," he breathed. "Exactly. I guess you could say that my methods were more efficient and effective, up to a point. I took it too far though. I ended up being another enemy of the state, shooting and killing in the name of justice. And _he_ didn't like that. He thought I was just another murderer. A homicidal maniac."

"Batman?" God, you really had to learn when to keep your mouth shut.

But the vigilante didn't seem to be annoyed by your interruptions.

"The one and only," he drawled. "The point is, I thought that I was finally doing something about crime in Gotham. I didn't care that my killing was just adding to the fire. I only cared about revenge, and riling up Batman. I was constantly frustrated and stressed. Guess that was when I turned to smoking, to help with the stress. I would go through at least two packets a day, and it would only help a little. After some point, we came to some sort of truce. I agreed to stop killing as long as they didn't keep chasing after me. Their end of the deal didn't hold up though. They kept trying to bring me back, trying to convince me that there was a place for me with them."

"Fucking Nightwing," he chuckled. "Stupid ass Replacement."

"But it worked out, right?" You knew that he was working with the Bats now, that sigil on his chest proved it.

"Apparently. I finally agreed to at least try to reconcile with them, though at that time it was just to stop those little fucks from stalking me. Switched to rubber bullets, promised not to damage criminals _that_ much, even went to fucking therapy. Fat load of good that last one did. I even reduced my smoking habits. These days I only have a couple of cigarettes every few days."

"But sometimes..." He paused a little. "Sometimes something happens. Maybe I punch a guy too hard, or I think that a particular punishment is too soft. And all of a sudden it's me VS Batman again, just like before. And I remember that there are too many differences of principles for me to even think about being fully accepted, of anything going back to normal. My time had gone, but for some reason I was forced back, and now I have to live as an outsider. Maybe that's my punishment... forever living as an outlaw."

You were left speechless. There were a million thoughts rushing through your head, and a part of you felt like crying. God, you never knew his life was this bad. Red Hood took a few shaky deep breaths, tilting his head back to try and calm down and go back to his normal attitude. His fingers were twitching slightly, as if begging to hold another cigarette.

"Shit," he laughed shakily. "All you asked was why I smoked, and I ended up telling you my whole stupid life story. What a waste of time that was for you."

' _It wasn't stupid'_ you wanted to say. _'I wanted to hear it. It wasn't a waste, please.'_

But instead, what came out was very different.

"Were you all alone?" You whispered.

Red Hood was obviously shocked at that. He brought his head back up to look at you, his dark hair flopping in front of his eyes.

"What?" He croaked.

"Were you all alone? When you came back to Gotham and you were angry and hurt. Was there anyone with you during that time? Or were you all alone?" You stared at him with determination.

Red Hood opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. He was obviously taken aback at your question, taking a moment to think it over.

"I was alone, I-I guess. It wasn't like anyone in the city knew that I was back. I came alone and Batman only knew I was back until about a month later. Why?"

"There was no one to look after you," you whispered sadly. Red Hood opened his mouth in surprise, dumbfounded that you would care about that. "You had to face all of that mental torture alone, and there was nobody to help you. God, Red..."

"It wasn't all that bad," Red muttered. "I got through it all, right? And besides, it was nice being alone."

"Doesn't mean it was okay," you snapped, before you cursed and rubbed your eyes. "I'm sorry, I just... I wish someone had been there. You didn't deserve having to go through all that alone. Nobody does."

You looked up to see Red Hood's gaze trained right on you, staring at you shamelessly. You could see his cheeks a little pink, and he almost looked a little... happy.

And then his lips curled up and he laughed. The sound was a little embarrassed and breathless, but it had none of that humourless bite, unlike earlier.

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" He grinned.

You scoffed. "Well excuse me for worrying about you."

"I didn't say that I didn't like it." He poked you on the nose. "It's just the first time someone even said something like that."

"Oh... well, okay." You fidgeted in your seat, swinging your legs back and forth. "So... you still smoke."

"Yep. Though I mainly just do it to piss off Batman," grinned Red Hood. "Don't worry, I won't let it kill me."

You hummed, a little distracted. Red Hood noticed though, and he lifted an eyebrow.

"Spit it out," he said expectantly.

You took a breath. "Do you... still... do you still feel like that? Feel like you have no one?"

That question definitely sobered the mood, and you inwardly cringed at yourself for making everything depressing again. _Stupid. Stupid._

Red Hood bit his lip thoughtfully, before slowly answering. "Sometimes, I guess."

"Oh." You didn't know why that made you feel a little disappointed. You could feel a part of you snarling at yourself. _Wow, did you really think that he would count you as a someone? Pathetic._

"But that was before all of this." You looked up to see Red Hood twisting in his place, so that you were right in front of him. Gingerly, you twisted around so that the both of you were directly facing each other.

"Before all of what?" You asked. There was a little flutter in your chest as Red smiled right at you. There was something much more enchanting about seeing him directly in front of you, the moonlight highlighting his hair and face as he looked right at you. _Beautiful_.

Red Hood shrugged. "Before I met you, I guess."

You could feel your heart beating faster. Did this boy even know what he was doing to you?

"There aren't a lot of people who're willing to see past the whole homicidal thing so soon. It's pretty new." He leaned back, shooting you a grin.

"Maybe it's because you dress up like a psychotic biker and go around at night waving guns and a Japanese sword," you retorted back, but the response was a little breathless.

Red Hood laughed. "Maybe... who knows. Didn't seem to stop you though."

"I'm just special like that, I guess."

"That you are. You're amazing, so give yourself some credit." Red Hood leaned his elbow on his crossed legs and leaned his cheek against his palm. "Anyone who meets you will be lucky to be your friend."

You stared at him in disbelief. But your heartbeat was pumping harder and harder, and the butterflies in your stomach were getting more excited every minute. This idiot really had no clue on what he was making you feel.

"I'm serious," Red claimed at your disbelieving face. "You're amazing, caring, brave, cute. And not to mention you can cook some mean noodles and somehow have a special talent for getting people with issues to spill their whole life stories. You're one of a kind, pretzels."

You could feel your lips curling upwards as you let yourself feel the unbelievable joy that came from his words. It was overwhelming, the emotions threatening to burst out of you. It looked like you couldn't deny how you felt for him, what even was the point? You liked him. You really liked him. How could someone say words as normal as that, and yet make you feel so much? Be solely responsible for the thumping heart, the churning stomach, the shaky limbs? Your mind was telling you...  _begging_ you to do one thing over and over again.

So you did it.

You shot forward and cupped his face in your hands.

And then you pressed your lips against his.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papi Chulo - Pimp daddy in spanish.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been planning this for a little while but I don't really know if it will work out or not so any feedback will be appreciated! Also I'm very new to this website so I have no idea how to navigate through most of the things here.


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